Amrullah Saleh was also belaboring on the ISI's role for far too long, and i wish he remained more constructive like the Audience in seeking peace by also including the Taliban. He still sees the Taliban as armed mercenaries that could only be brought to the table by force. I was impressed by the conduct of both the politicians Haji Adeel on the Pakistani side and Hanif Atmar on the Afghan side. Hanif Atmar especially was quite mature to look forward to having peaceful solutions and people-to-people contacts. As you too mention, since the "Strategic Depth" days of Aslam Beg and Hamid Gul, Afghanistan has always been thought of by the establishment as the sub-nation of PacLand. So, the Army, ISI and MI still consider that talking to the Taliban and their Amir-Ul-Momineen is better than talking to the Government however incompetent, corrupt or weak it may be. The greatest fear that Establishment has more than being encircled by India, is of the Durand line being considered as null and void, which might trigger a Greater Pashtunistan movement, and they feel hedging on the Taliban will give the incentive of weakening people-people contacts between the two countries. Asad Durrani made that very much clear in his first set of statements on the issue of the Durand line. But more importantly what was missing from the discussion was, what could the people of either side do to reduce the influence of the Taliban amongst the common folk of either countries. The Pakistani establishment is so shortsighted and apprehensive of the Durand Line, that instead of seeing that peace in the region will help their country, they see peace in Afghanistan as a threat to their national interests !!!
