Muhammad Asif Khan
Eyes were stuck on television in an afghan refugee camp with a hope to end the miseries of 40 long years of displaced fate. Suddenly nerve breaking silence changed into chanting and hooting of joy. News of an agreement between the Taliban and US went succeeded. Truce was signed between the Taliban and the US which is considered as finding the shadow in the hot blazing sun. 29 th Feb, 2020, a red letter day which brought natives of Afghanistan to have a sigh of relief from devastating 19 year long war. Afghanistan that has a unique geography and the cross road between Iran, India, Central Asian countries and South Asia. It has always attracted foreign invaders and hosted numerous battles for which it is
called the graveyard of empires. This all happened after a year of untiring effort by both the rivals, US and Taliban. The truce included the with drawl of US and NATO troops on assurance of the Taliban for not letting Al- Qaida to re organize and carry their ill intention.US will swap 5000 Taliban prisoners for the release of some 1000 afghan security personals. This truce was followed by intra-Afghan dialogue which has to be carried out between afghan government and Taliba . Intra afghan talks was to be started after 10 days of truce but situation got confused when President Ashraf Ghani refused the release of Taliban prisoners. His refusal was based on two complications, first one was keeping the
afghan government out of US Taliban talks whereas the second was the political crisis of Afghanistan political parties after 2019 presidential elections. But these complications were soon resolved after the Mike Pompeo warned them regarding the suspension of $1Billion as United States assistance to Afghanistan and soon the mainstream political leader agreed on agenda of releasing the Taliban prisoners. Few days ago the Grand National gathering (Loya Jirga) approved the release of last remaining 400 prisoners including some most wanted Taliban. This development has paved the way and removed the last hurdle of intra-Afghan talks. Although President Ashraf Ghani was much pressurized regarding the release of prisoners but he was considering this as good will gesture to initiate the talks in the best
interest of afghan peace process. By 2020 almost quarter of troops has already dispatched for departure and the remaining was to be done within the next fourteen months. The withdraw of forces from Afghanistan shows the willingness of US administration for power sharing with Kabul government The Post American withdrawal era will be mostly depending on regional stake holder which include Pakistan, Iran, and India. According to one former UN ambassador in Afghanistan in Taliban era, the peace of Afghanistan is not possible till the neighbors restrict their proxies in Afghanistan. For sustainable peace
in Afghanistan, the regional powers are needed to play their roles to bring back the prosperity and development in Afghanistan. Pakistan role gets more important due to its geographical location and historical background. Post American withdrawal will create a power vacuum that has to be filled by Pakistan because of realistic pursuance of national interest, Pakistan can exercise power over the pressure groups in Afghanistan and this point is already accepted by United States The future of Afghanistan lies in the hands of their political fractions because they will be the decision makers of future policies. National level government can serve the best interest of its people as it contain all the
major stake holders of the country. Power sharing agreement between Taliban and afghan government is going to be of vital role. The woman of Afghanistan needs to be empowered as it is having huge population in the country and was deprived from their basic rights. So realizing the role of woman, the countrymen should join hands together to make the region more peaceful and prosperous.
(-The writer is a National University of modern Languages Islamabad..)
