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| Image: Flickr User - DFID - UK Department for International Development |
By Habib Wayand
A regional conference in Islamabad this week offers another chance at peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
Pakistan will be soon hosting a crucial regional conference in Islamabad. The conference will discuss the situation in Afghanistan with particular focus on helping the war-torn country’s economy, although the security situation will doubtless also be a major issue. More specifically, the meeting aims to look at ways to strengthen cooperation, deal with security challenges, and build economic ties.
The “Heart of Asia” conference is scheduled to run from December 8 to 10. Pakistan has been trying to convince Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to attend along with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. At the time of writing, official confirmation of the participation of Ghani as well as that of Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj was still pending. However, Ghani and Sharif did meet on the sidelines of the COP21 Climate Change Conference in Paris last week, a meeting mediated by British Prime Minister David Cameron and prompted by a recent visit to Kabul by Pashtun leaders from Pakistan.
Ghani’s courageous outreach to Pakistan following his inauguration suffered a huge setback when the Murree talks in July this year failed. Pakistan had promised the Afghan president that it would bring the Taliban leaders to the negotiating table, but the last minute confirmation of the death of Mullah Omar, the former spiritual head of the Taliban, not only derailed the talks but raised serious doubts about Pakistan’s intentions.
As the talks failed Kabul witnessed several major terrorist attacks – worse than it had experienced at any time over the past 14 yearss. The incidents prompted Kabul to rethink its approach towards Pakistan, deciding only to initiate talks with Islamabad when the latter was ready to talk honestly about peace in Afghanistan.
This week’s conference gives both Pakistan and Afghanistan a real opportunity to work out their differences and negotiate a settlement. The other key stakeholders, like Swaraj and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, along with senior representatives from Azerbaijan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and the UAE could also use this platform to pressure Afghanistan and Pakistan to reach a peace settlement with insurgent groups on both sides of the border.
Read the full story at The Diplomat