The issue of legitimacy of the Afghan sides of the war has complicated the political settlement of the conflict. Afghan government insists that the only way to put an end to the war in Afghanistan is to settle the case with Pakistan as Taliban’s supporter instead of engaging with them. It is striving to dismiss the Taliban as a “Pakistani phenomenon”, and therefore thinks that it is fruitful to directly talk to Pakistan than engage with the Taliban. Similarly, the Taliban’s focus is also to talk to Americans instead of the Afghan government because they believe that if it is recognized as a party to the conflict, the legitimacy of their cause will be undermined. This very problem has, at least for now, made intra-Afghan talks in which Afghan government can participate as an independent party impossible.
The government, which has mostly been excluded from the US-initiated peace parleys with the Taliban, has begun efforts to drag the Taliban to the negotiating table through Islamabad. As part of the push, Afghanistan and Pakistan held the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) meeting after a 7-month long delay in Islamabad. The APAPPS was established in May last year to provide a comprehensive and structured framework for institutional bilateral engagement and cooperation in politico-diplomatic, military, intelligence, and economic spheres as well as refugees between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Additionally, National Security Adviser Hamdullah Moheb visited Pakistan a few days ago, and President Ghani is also expected to pay a visit to Islamabad in the near future.
As two neighbors, Afghanistan and Pakistan doubtlessly need to have good relations, but they should be based on mutual interests and respect. Shortly after its inauguration, the National Unity Government also attempted to mend fences with Pakistan by cutting deals which could be considered the worst of the government’s legacy, without getting any tangible concessions from the Pakistani side in return. Now that Kabul is trying to repair its ties with Islamabad, it should learned enough from Islamabad’s behavior, and avoid repeating past mistake. Unless Afghanistan secures concessions from Pakistan, any kind of deal with Islamabad on peace and other issues will have grave consequences for the country. The US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has welcomed the renewed efforts aimed to improve Kabul-Islamabad ties, but Islamabad can hijack them to derail the ongoing peace talks if they are coordinated with the United States. Kabul must keep a close eye on Islamabad’s behavior, and avert repeating the mistake of giving unilateral concessions to the Pakistani side.