pakistani342
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Oped by Barnett R. Rubin on NYT here, excerpts below:
President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan is taking a risk most leaders would shun: He is proposing to improve Afghanistan’s contentious relations with Pakistan in the hope of paving the way toward both peace with the Taliban and regional economic cooperation. Much of the Afghan public is skeptical, because Pakistan has long treated Afghanistan like a client state. Mr. Ghani will need to show results fast.
...
Mr. Ghani is hoping the Pakistani government will respond to his efforts by curtailing the military capacity of the Afghan Taliban, whose leaders have sought refuge in Pakistan, and pressing them into entering negotiations with the Afghan government and eventually giving up their armed struggle. The objective is to make the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan more open and more secure and then help “connect South Asia to Central Asia,” as Mr. Ghani put it during his first trip to Pakistan last fall.
“Alone we can strive,” he said, addressing a group of Afghan and Pakistani business leaders, “Together we will thrive, and let’s thrive together.”
...
Mr. Ghani has also offered Pakistani investors generous access to Afghanistan, including free industrial zones. In November, the Afghan and Pakistani governments agreed to a detailed list of proposals to promote trade, including the opening of 15 new crossing points along their shared border, even though Afghanistan has long disputed its legitimacy.
...
When I visited Pakistan last month, I was amazed at the change of attitude expressed by Afghan and Pakistani officials alike. I have worked on the region for over three decades — including as adviser to the U.N. special representative of the secretary general for Afghanistan in 2001 and as adviser to the U.S. State Department’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009-2013 — and it was the first time I heard both sides describe the relationship in hopeful terms. The officials said the Pakistani military had told the senior leaders of the Afghan Taliban living in Pakistan that they had to talk to the Afghan government or lose their freedom to operate in Pakistan.
...
President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan is taking a risk most leaders would shun: He is proposing to improve Afghanistan’s contentious relations with Pakistan in the hope of paving the way toward both peace with the Taliban and regional economic cooperation. Much of the Afghan public is skeptical, because Pakistan has long treated Afghanistan like a client state. Mr. Ghani will need to show results fast.
...
Mr. Ghani is hoping the Pakistani government will respond to his efforts by curtailing the military capacity of the Afghan Taliban, whose leaders have sought refuge in Pakistan, and pressing them into entering negotiations with the Afghan government and eventually giving up their armed struggle. The objective is to make the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan more open and more secure and then help “connect South Asia to Central Asia,” as Mr. Ghani put it during his first trip to Pakistan last fall.
“Alone we can strive,” he said, addressing a group of Afghan and Pakistani business leaders, “Together we will thrive, and let’s thrive together.”
...
Mr. Ghani has also offered Pakistani investors generous access to Afghanistan, including free industrial zones. In November, the Afghan and Pakistani governments agreed to a detailed list of proposals to promote trade, including the opening of 15 new crossing points along their shared border, even though Afghanistan has long disputed its legitimacy.
...
When I visited Pakistan last month, I was amazed at the change of attitude expressed by Afghan and Pakistani officials alike. I have worked on the region for over three decades — including as adviser to the U.N. special representative of the secretary general for Afghanistan in 2001 and as adviser to the U.S. State Department’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009-2013 — and it was the first time I heard both sides describe the relationship in hopeful terms. The officials said the Pakistani military had told the senior leaders of the Afghan Taliban living in Pakistan that they had to talk to the Afghan government or lose their freedom to operate in Pakistan.
...
)' seriously.
