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Jeddah meeting to test nerves of Pak, US experts
* Analysts say Pakistan has always helped US in reaching negotiated settlement in Afghanistan despite trust deficit.
Saeed Minhas
ISLAMABAD: The first meeting of the International Contact Group (ICG) on Afghanistan and Pakistan of the current year to be held in Jeddah on March 3 under the auspices of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) is likely to test the nerves of the US and Pakistani defence strategists in the wake of an ongoing mistrust which has been brewing up on both sides ever since the arrest of Mullah Baradar by Pakistani intelligence agencies thus thwarting the US plans to hold secret talks with Taliban dissidents, claimed Pakistani defence and diplomatic experts.
Sources privy to these developments are of the view that though Germans, Italians and French have tried to broaden the base of ICG by involving not only Iran and OIC into this foray but still they know that without taking Pakistan into confidence, NATO-led forces would neither be able to make an honourable exit from Afghanistan nor will there be any end to the chaos.
More than 50 countries, one-third of which will be from the Islamic block, including Iran, will take part in the ICG meeting which will be chaired by the German representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Michael Steiner. The group was formed in April 2009 on the wishes of US President Barrack Obama but it was only after the special initiative of the Steiner in August that Iran agreed to take part in it after finding that the US has not only distanced itself from Pakistani intelligence network but has also started backing the Shia-led coalition in Iraq, commented a Pakistani diplomat seeking anonymity.
Pakistan is approaching this conference with all sorts of apprehensions and amidst a growing mistrust which according to some defence analysts has been inculcated by US administration ever since the arrest of Mullah Baradar by Pakistani intelligence agencies. Many in Pakistani defence apparatus believe that since the past two years Americans have not only distanced themselves from intelligence sharing with Pakistani counterparts but have also started bypassing it by engaging more with the feeble Afghan intelligence network which according to them is heavily overwritten by Indian intelligence machinery of RAW.
A defence analyst said that Pakistan has always offered to help US in reaching a negotiated settlement of Afghanistan by arranging not only talks with Afghan Taliban but also by helping them work out an exit strategy. All Pakistan was asking from the Americans was to provide their set of demands or share their concerns and strategy so that Pakistanis can give them an honest feedback based on existing ground realities so that a doable list of things could be drawn, commented a senior security analyst who wished not to be named. Instead, he said that US have resorted to using all sorts of pressure tactics and bypassing the Pakistani intelligence network not only to engage in talks with Taliban but also with other stakeholders without even taking Pakistan into confidence. In this regard, he opined that use of OIC and Saudis is seen merely another pressure tactic.
As for the agenda of the ICG is concerned, diplomatic sources revealed that participants will be brooding over the issue of engaging Taliban in dialogue and bringing a peacefully negotiated end to the years of turmoil and insurgency in Afghanistan and its negative impact on neighbouring countries, especially in Pakistan besides working out a time frame for the NATO-led coalition forces to leave by 2014 without leaving much of chaos thereafter.
Coupled with this growing mistrust between Pakistan and the recent diplomatic fiasco which US mired itself into after the issue of Raymond Davis, many analysts in Foreign Office hoped that the ICG meeting will take into account the ground realities. Because, they believe that a diplomatic fiasco generated by US officials would not only hamper their work in Pakistan but also in other parts of the world.
* Analysts say Pakistan has always helped US in reaching negotiated settlement in Afghanistan despite trust deficit.
Saeed Minhas
ISLAMABAD: The first meeting of the International Contact Group (ICG) on Afghanistan and Pakistan of the current year to be held in Jeddah on March 3 under the auspices of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) is likely to test the nerves of the US and Pakistani defence strategists in the wake of an ongoing mistrust which has been brewing up on both sides ever since the arrest of Mullah Baradar by Pakistani intelligence agencies thus thwarting the US plans to hold secret talks with Taliban dissidents, claimed Pakistani defence and diplomatic experts.
Sources privy to these developments are of the view that though Germans, Italians and French have tried to broaden the base of ICG by involving not only Iran and OIC into this foray but still they know that without taking Pakistan into confidence, NATO-led forces would neither be able to make an honourable exit from Afghanistan nor will there be any end to the chaos.
More than 50 countries, one-third of which will be from the Islamic block, including Iran, will take part in the ICG meeting which will be chaired by the German representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Michael Steiner. The group was formed in April 2009 on the wishes of US President Barrack Obama but it was only after the special initiative of the Steiner in August that Iran agreed to take part in it after finding that the US has not only distanced itself from Pakistani intelligence network but has also started backing the Shia-led coalition in Iraq, commented a Pakistani diplomat seeking anonymity.
Pakistan is approaching this conference with all sorts of apprehensions and amidst a growing mistrust which according to some defence analysts has been inculcated by US administration ever since the arrest of Mullah Baradar by Pakistani intelligence agencies. Many in Pakistani defence apparatus believe that since the past two years Americans have not only distanced themselves from intelligence sharing with Pakistani counterparts but have also started bypassing it by engaging more with the feeble Afghan intelligence network which according to them is heavily overwritten by Indian intelligence machinery of RAW.
A defence analyst said that Pakistan has always offered to help US in reaching a negotiated settlement of Afghanistan by arranging not only talks with Afghan Taliban but also by helping them work out an exit strategy. All Pakistan was asking from the Americans was to provide their set of demands or share their concerns and strategy so that Pakistanis can give them an honest feedback based on existing ground realities so that a doable list of things could be drawn, commented a senior security analyst who wished not to be named. Instead, he said that US have resorted to using all sorts of pressure tactics and bypassing the Pakistani intelligence network not only to engage in talks with Taliban but also with other stakeholders without even taking Pakistan into confidence. In this regard, he opined that use of OIC and Saudis is seen merely another pressure tactic.
As for the agenda of the ICG is concerned, diplomatic sources revealed that participants will be brooding over the issue of engaging Taliban in dialogue and bringing a peacefully negotiated end to the years of turmoil and insurgency in Afghanistan and its negative impact on neighbouring countries, especially in Pakistan besides working out a time frame for the NATO-led coalition forces to leave by 2014 without leaving much of chaos thereafter.
Coupled with this growing mistrust between Pakistan and the recent diplomatic fiasco which US mired itself into after the issue of Raymond Davis, many analysts in Foreign Office hoped that the ICG meeting will take into account the ground realities. Because, they believe that a diplomatic fiasco generated by US officials would not only hamper their work in Pakistan but also in other parts of the world.
