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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 EDITORIAL: Pak-Afghan relations continue to sour http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\03\14\story_14-3-2006_pg3_1 Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan took another turn for the worse last Sunday when Sebghatullah Mujadidi, a former Afghan president and current head of Afghanistan's upper house of parliament, accused Pakistan of plotting the suicide attack in Kabul against him in which at least four people were killed, including the two bombers. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, while not naming Pakistan, blamed "foreigners" for the car bombing. Elsewhere in Afghanistan a roadside bomb killed three US soldiers while the Taliban kidnapped four Albanians in southern Afghanistan. The violence, especially the attack on Mr Mujadidi, has further soured the atmosphere between Islamabad and Kabul. Mr Mujadidi has reportedly been saying that the attack was planned by Pakistan's intelligence agencies. Mr Karzai, on the other hand, told the media that the Afghanistan government had been warned a couple of months ago that senior Afghan government officials, including Mr Mujadidi, would be targeted. "With no doubt, Afghanistan in the past 30 years has been destroyed by the hands of foreigners...there is no doubt that this attack too is by foreigners," Mr Karzai told the media in Kabul and said that Mr Mujadidi's claim of Pakistani involvement would be investigated. The attack on Mr Mujadidi is condemnable and regrettable. But what he and Mr Karzai have said indicates that the war of words between Pakistan and Afghanistan is unlikely to end soon, especially if Islamabad chooses to hit back. It also indicates that those who thought they were wronged by Pakistan - Mr Mujadidi being one such - are straining at the leash to speak out. There is great temptation for Pakistan to retaliate but that is precisely what is so inimical to preventing the current slide in relations and then building them. The present dispensation in Kabul has shown itself to be anti-Pakistan but not without reason. Islamabad has meddled in Afghanistan for more than three decades. Some of its actions and policies were justified; others were not. It is now in the unenviable position of being under attack not only from its erstwhile proxies, the Taliban, who it has had to ditch, but also from those like the Northern Alliance that were opposed to the Taliban - and to Pakistan - and are now in the driving seat in Afghanistan. Kabul has correctly estimated that it can blame everything on Pakistan and get away with it because there are not many buyers for Pakistan's viewpoint. The Indians are propagating against Pakistan; the US military commanders and intelligence officials say the Taliban are entering Afghanistan from Pakistani territory; the Europeans are not convinced that Pakistan is doing enough; the US media is projecting the view that General Pervez Musharraf is double-crossing the Bush administration, and so on. There is pressure on Pakistan from all sides even as Islamabad has deployed nearly 70,000 troops along the Durand Line in its tribal agencies. On this side, there have been many skirmishes between Pakistani troops and roaming Taliban-Al Qaeda elements and hundreds of people have died. Yet the focus constantly shifts from military operations on the Pakistani side to acts of violence in Afghanistan. Even the sympathetic view maintains that while General Musharraf might be interested in cleansing the area, some elements within the Pakistani intelligence security may be playing a different game. All this can be traced back to Pakistan's misplaced Afghanistan policy in the 1990s that it had to reverse after 9/11 ahead of America's invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. Retaliation is not in Pakistan's interest. The most important thing for the Pakistanis is to decide whether we are trying to purge the tribal areas of extremist elements because we want to do this or whether we have to do it under pressure from the United States. Our view is that cleaning up the area is in Pakistan's interest, first and foremost. We reported on Sunday that local Taliban commanders in Waziristan asked the clerics to announce the end of the jirga system in the area. This means that the Taliban are not only present in the area but that they are strong enough to issue directives and force the local tribesmen to follow them. This is not a happy sign and Islamabad needs to do something about it. Pakistan's policy must move from the short- to medium- to the long-term. First, it must win adherents in the US and Europe for its policy of fencing the Durand Line. Emphasis on erecting the fence would show that it is sincere in creating hurdles in the way of those elements which are interested in a porous border. Along with this, Islamabad should start reforming FATA. Its best bet is to focus on the educated youth of the area. These young men have despaired of a good future. Islamabad needs to co-opt them and give them employment and hope. The hated Frontier Crimes Regulations must be replaced with municipal laws that can be enforced. Simultaneously, Islamabad should continue with its military operations and take out leaders of the extremist elements. But what Islamabad must not do, despite the temptation, as we have earlier noted, is to strike back at Afghanistan. It would serve no purpose and merely exacerbate the problem. Even weaker neighbours, if and when they choose to defy stronger states, can become a nuisance. Within the region we have the recent examples of India-Bangladesh and India-Nepal relations. Even Nepal has decided to hit back at New Delhi and there is not much that India can do about it except fulminate. That lesson should not be lost on us. * Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
