KABUL (SW): Pakistan has pledged in the multi-lateral meetings with China, Afghanistan and the United States that it would fight Taliban and those groups who are not willing to join peace process and oppose Afghanistan’s Constitutions.
The move was embraced by the U.S. and Chinese’s representatives as well as by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.
They said that Taliban and other armed militants were a common enemy of the countries in the region and should be dealt with by a comprehensive and regional strategy. Experts however, are not optimistic and believe that the pledges would not prove true.
Latif Nazari, a political expert, believed that what Pakistan has pledged is more like attracting public attention in Afghanistan and the region and would not bring any changes to Pakistan’s proven foreign policy.
He said that as long as Pakistan continues its support for terrorism, a unilateral approach from Afghanistan in this regard would not bear any fruit.
Faramarz Tamana, another political expert, said that supporting terrorism is part of Pakistan’s national interest and has been an instrumental element of its foreign policy.
He added that Afghanistan should seek for a regional consensus in order to fight terrorism and such consensus could be achieved without engaging Pakistan.
It is worth noticing that the trilateral declaration issued by Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States on the sidelines of Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HAIP), it said that the three countries would work closely in regards with resuming peace talks and would not spare any efforts in realizing it.
Part of the declaration also said that Afghanistan and Pakistan would show to Taliban that peace talks would be a realistic political option and they have to join this process.
Based on the declaration, Afghanistan and Pakistan would jointly work to fight those groups who show no interest in peace process and the two countries would never again allow terrorists to use their countries for carrying out terrorist activities.
Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Deputy Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken led their respective delegations in the meeting.
The meeting agreed to work together to enhance mutual trust and confidence between Afghanistan and Pakistan to create an enabling environment for peace talks.
The meeting expressed full commitment to enabling an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political process that promotes a dialogue between the Afghan Government and Taliban groups, including on reduction and renunciation of violence.
ENDS
