Malik M Ashraf
AS expected, Indian PM Modi utilised Heart of Asia Conference forum to accuse Pakistan, without naming it, of fomenting terrorism in Afghanistan and region. Addressing inaugural session of Conference he said “We must counter terrorists and their masters. We must demonstrate strong collective will to defeat terror networks that cause bloodshed and spread fear. Silence and inaction on terror in Afghanistan and region will only embolden terrorists and masters and those who fund them, India is committed to durable peace in Afghanistan,†The Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was even more specific and harsh on Pakistan by saying “We need to identify cross-border terrorism and a fund to combat terrorism. Mr. Aziz Pakistan has pledged $ 500 million for Afghanistan’s development. This amount can be spent to contain extremism. Afghanistan suffered the highest number of casualties last year. This is unacceptable. Some still provide sanctuary for terrorists. As a Taliban figure said recently, if they had no sanctuary in Pakistan, they wouldn’t last a month. Pakistan must verify cross-border activities. I appreciate Indian support to Afghanistan which comes without strings attached. The relationship is based on shared values and beliefs†What both the leaders said indicates a strong nexus between India and Afghanistan to malign Pakistan and as unequivocally and repeatedly said by Modi, to isolate her internationally. Both have their own different reasons for making a common cause against Pakistan. Venom-spiting against Pakistan by Modi in regards to terrorism, is a deliberate and calculated attempt to divert the attention of the world community from the atrocities of the Indian security forces against the people of Kashmir and keep the current uprising in the valley out of the radar. The Uri incident faked by India and the subsequent and unabated violations of the ceasefire along the LoC are the other ploys that India has employed to achieve the same objective as well as to portray the freedom movement in Kashmir as terrorism, abetted and supported by Pakistan. It is also a move to erect a smoke screen against Indian sponsored acts of terrorism within Pakistan. India has been sponsoring insurgency and terrorism in Balochistan as corroborated by the arrest of Kalbushan Yadev and his confessions in this regard. Ashraf Ghani frustrated by the inability of its government to establish its writ and deliver to the masses and continued Taliban attacks which are attributable to wrong policies of US and Afghan government itself, is looking for a scapegoat. Pakistan rightly feels that the Afghan govt has not taken any credible action against TTP operatives on its soil and the arrest of Mullah Fazlullah who are using Afghan territory for planning and executing terrorist attacks with Pakistan like APS, Budabher and Bacha Khan University. It has not responded positively to the border management proposition despite several interactions between the two countries at the highest level and their intelligence outfits on intelligence sharing and commitment not to allow their respective territories to be used for attack across the border. When Pakistan launched operation Zarb-i-Azb, it formally requested Afghan govt to take care of the border so that the TTP operatives and their leaders could not escape to Afghanistan but unfortunately the level of expected cooperation never materialized. Not only Afghan intelligence DNS and RAW have been supporting TTP in carrying out terrorists attacks in Pakistan. The deputy leader of TTP Latifullah Mehsud who was caught by NATO forces in Afghanistan in Oct 2013 when he was returning after a meeting with the high level Afghan functionaries, confessed the nexus between the two intelligence agencies and their support to TTP. Ambience of mutual mistrust has been main stumbling block in forging a credible cooperation between the two countries to fight the phenomenon of terrorism though Pakistan on its part has taken a number of steps to prove its sincerity of purpose and commitment to promote process of reconciliation in Afghanistan and tackling the scourge of terrorism. Pakistan rightly maintains that most of the groups fighting in Afghanistan including Haqqanis were indigenous entities and Pakistan could not fight Afghan war on its own soil.
Operation Zarb-i-Azb has been carried out indiscriminately against all the terrorist outfits. Security establishment of Pakistan has repeatedly expressed resolve to make sure that nobody from Pakistan side crossed over t Afghanistan. Pakistan was also a force behind formation of quadrilateral initiative.
The reality is that Pakistan needs peace in Afghanistan more than any other stakeholder in the region. It has suffered the most in the war against terrorism and is extremely convinced that there could be no peace in Pakistan without peace in Afghanistan. Under the circumstances how could it undermine its own interests by supporting or abetting terrorism in Afghanistan, as alleged? Both India and Afghanistan need to understand that their machinations would further complicate the situation and consign the region to a perennial instability.