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Af-Pak Relationship

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September 08, 2018

Why in news?

  • Imran Khan, newly sworn-in Prime minister of Pakistan received a goodwill message from the president of Afghanistan.
  • Both the states are suffering from the terrorism they once helped nurtured.

What are the issues of various countries in the region?

  • The north-south national divide continues to be a decision-making obstacle for Afghanistan.
  • While for Pakistan, the presence of India in Afghanistan is an issue to be solved.
  • The American view of Afghanistan has changed.
  • America plane to leave after setting up a strategic bulwark against China in the region with India’s help.

How Pakistan is affected?

  • It has been looking more closely at the increasingly hostile Pashtun terrorists inside its own tribal belt.
  • Actions taken to clean up the sanctuaries of terror have hurt the local population.
  • The affected local population is staging protests now.
  • However, regular terrorist attacks on the Shia of Quetta and Chinese workers in Balochistan signal penetrations that Pakistan can no longer tolerate.
  • Further Pakistan also keeps on hinting at the Indian presence in Afghanistan.

What are the roadblocks in the better relationship?

  •  Afghanistan has never really accepted the Durand Line as the frontier separating “the nation”.
  • However, non-Pashtuns of Afghanistan would readily accept the Durand Line.
  • Pakistan has ignored the non Pashtuns of the Afghanistan
  • The US is to leave the region.
  • The Taliban refuse to talk to the US but are travelling in the region discussing the conflict.
  • Their attack on Ghazni before Eid left the city helpless for days.
  • The Taliban refused the truce Ghazani offered.

What is the recent development?

  • Zalmay Khalilzad is going to be the new American special envoy to Kabul.
  • Khalilzad is a Pashtun from the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

What does the appointment of new special envoy mean?

  • The US is not happy with the situation developing in favour of China and Iran.
  • So USA is sending Khalilzad as its troubleshooter.
  • As Khalilzad is in Kabul, Pakistan is going to find it difficult to engage with Afghanistan on the lines it is familiar with.
  • Though the new Prime Minister of Pakistan known to be a leader capable of taking tough decisions, he has learned to be “flexible” on the Taliban
  • As head of its ruling party, he had to deal with the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where the Taliban terrorists can kill people.
  •  Taliban has financially supported religious schools connected with the killers in the province.

What lies ahead?

  • With new leadership in Pakistan the relations between the two countries will be closely watched.
  • However with a not so friendly special envoy assisting the President of Afghanistan in Kabul, Pakistan has to engage with all stakeholders to stabilize the region.

 

Source: Indian Express

 

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