USA
– Taliban deal is still underway after 19 years but such deals are complicated
due to multiple underlying factors.
I
as former DG FIA & Interior minister have been watching various phases of
Taliban and TTP, where the main sufferers are the nations at both sides because
of international proxy wars. There is no doubt about Afghan Taliban that they
never harmed Pakistan but TTP on the other hand have played a major role in
damaging Pakistan’s interests.
TTP
was handled through a remote control against Pakistan and Qamar Javed Bajwa is
the only one who actually identified the covert and overt supporters of TTP and
played a major role in smashing both visible and invisible remote control
operations.
It
was completely the COAS’s brainchild and he has played a great role in playing
role of mediator between USA & Afghan Taliban as the present outlines of
the deal could have not been possible without his role.
Let
me go through the historical developments and aspects of this deal’s processes.
In
fact, the efforts for peace started in 2010 when Mullah Baradar was arrested by
us and we kept him in safe custody for the purpose of debriefing. President
Karzai demanded his extradition but we kept denying as we knew he would be
killed by NDS in Afghanistan. This was the exact period when Pakistan started
experiencing more attacks of terrorism from Afghanistan in Baluchistan and KPK.
In
view of substantive evidence, we decided to visit Afghanistan hence PM Gilani,
I and DG ISI visited President Karzai and talked to him about the growing
terrorism on our soil, but President Karzai refused to accept that terrorism
was being launched from seven terrorist camps on bordering area. I gave him
undeniable proofs and eventually he helplessly stated that yes these are there
but I am helpless in front of Americans.
The
meeting ended on a semi-positive note and instead of handing Mullah over to
Afghanistan, we allowed them the access to interrogate Mullah Baradar directly
in the presence of our officers where the Afghan investigators visited my
office of interior Ministry. The delegation was allowed to meet and question
Mullah Baradar. The NDS was suspecting that it was Mullah Baradar and his
faction who were responsible for the killing of Mullah Rabbani, the head of the
Peace dialogues. This was proven wrong during the investigation based on a number
of interrogation sessions.
The
nature and times changed as by then, Mullah Baradar had become the main man of
Taliban after Siraj Uddin Haqqani (deputy leader of Afghan Taliban Overseas).
Let
me jot down the brief details of the previous such agreements before I give my
opinion on the present agreement.
The
first dialogue started in September 2007 and the following common statement was
issued:
Parties
concurred to a transitory détente that, in case fruitful, would open the way
for a bargain that American troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan and
conclude a long time of war. (US - Afghan Dialogue 2007-2009).
President
Hamid Karzai, as well as the British and Pakistani governments, all strived for
peace. Karzai announced peace talk with the Taliban in September 2007, but this
too was quickly rejected. (2010- 2012)
In
2009, there was a broad agreement for the war to end but how it should end was
a major issue because Karzai was re-elected and Obama’s administration had
increased the deployment of troops. In Feb 2010, Taliban’s co-founder,
then-second-in-command and Mullah Omer’s deputy, Abdul Ghani Baradar, was one
of the driving Taliban individuals who favoured talks with the US and Afghan
governments. I met Mullah Baradar along with Gen. Babar who held a secret
meeting with Mullah Omer for the first time. Mullah Omer and Mullah Baradar
both had played a great role in this deal.
Obama
made some serious efforts for talks with Taliban through President Karzai Govt
which were declined by the Taliban as they wanted the US to withdraw the forces
from Afghanistan but all in vain.
In
fact, the diplomacy of Gen Bajawa took all the stakeholders on board and
eventually, a well-chalked plan moved forward with Mr Zalmay Khalilzad, a representative of President Donald Trump. Khalilzad is an Afghan-US negotiator
who served as US minister to the Joined together Countries (2007-2009), Iraq
(2005-2007) and Afghanistan (2003-2005).
On
June 7, 2018, as a notable development, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the
Taliban announced an unprecedented mutual ceasefire during the Eid
celebrations. The temporary truce ended on the Eid day.
In
July 2018, American authorities subtly met Taliban individuals at their
political office in Qatar, which was a sign of endeavors to resolve the war in
Afghanistan by the Donald Trump administration.
On
September 5, 2018, Zalmay Khalilzad joined the U.S. State Office as President
Trump’s consultant on Afghanistan.
The
Afghan Taliban agreed in December 2018 that they would once more meet with
American moderators in Qatar to settle an arrangement. However, Ashraf Ghani
and his associates were not welcomed to the talks and it brought major setback.
This
was the time when Pakistan started playing a central role in an attempt to end
the war again and gave an effective plan.
Afghan
Govt announced Loya jirga from April 29 to May 3, 2019 The Taliban were invited
but they declined and it got frustrated again.
In
September 2019, the Taliban sent a designation to Russia to examine prospects for a
withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan after the collapse of talks with The USA. On September 18, 2019, the Taliban expressed that their “entryways are
open” to President Trump.
Accordingly,
Peace arrangements started once more in December 2019. This circular of talks
brought about a seven-day period ceasefire which has started from 22 February
2020. I sincerely hope that this will be fruitful for the peace processes.
The article was published in The Nation on March1, 2020, link to the article https://nation.com.pk/01-Mar-2020/usa-taliban-deal-truce-or-another-game-in-making
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