Calls for peace ring out as Afghan leaders attend summit at Pakistani hill station

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday called for trust to be rebuilt between Islamabad and Kabul as 57 delegates, many of them Afghan politicians and tribal elders, attended a two-day peace moot in the serene Pakistani hill station of Murree.
On Saturday morning, Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan did not subscribe to the notion of ‘strategic depth’ as he addressed the inaugural session of the Afghan peace conference titled “Lahore Process” at Bhurban, Murree, adding that Pakistan stood behind an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
For years, Pakistan has been accused of seeing Afghanistan in terms of “strategic depth,” meaning, in the event of war with India and Indian forces rolling over its eastern border, Pakistani forces could withdraw over its western border into a friendly Afghanistan, re-group and fight back from there. Pakistan now says that concept is outdated.
“Let this be absolutely clear: No one in Pakistan subscribes to any notion of so-called ‘strategic depth’ in Afghanistan,” Qureshi said. “We support an Afghanistan that is at a peace with itself and with its neighbors,” he said, reiterating Pakistan’s determination to help Afghanistan find a negotiable solution to a war against Taliban insurgents that is in its 17th year.
The peace conference in Bhurban is an initiative of the Lahore Center for Peace and Research (LCPR) co-organized and moderated by the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute. It is being attended by 57 Afghan delegates representing eighteen political parties and groups, including Pakistani government officials and experts.
The conference is one of many Track II dialogues aimed at helping the Afghans reach a settlement with the Afghan Taliban and iron out differences between several Afghan political stakeholders, groups, and political parties with the support of Afghanistan’s neighbors and foreign countries.
Discussions on viable paths to peace and stability in Afghanistan, trade, economy, health, women’s empowerment, reconstruction, development, and regional connectivity are on the agenda.
“We must not allow other forces to create differences between us,”, Qureshi said, in a veiled refernce to arch-fie India, which Islamabad says uses Afghan soil to conspire against Pakistan. India denies the charge.
Qureshi stressed Pakistan’s role in providing refuge to millions of Afghan refugees and said, “No one has suffered more than Pakistan,” post 9/11.
“Pakistan and Afghanistan should not allow themselves to be held hostage by the past,” said Atta Muhammad Nur, former governor of Afghanistan’s Balkh province and secretary general of the Jamiat-e-Islami party in his country.
“Global proxy war has been fought on Afghan soil. However, regional powers must play their role in bringing peace to Afghanistan,” he said.
But the principal stakeholders in the long Afghan war- representatives of the Afghan Taliban- and Afghan officials from President Ashraf Ghani’s government were missing from the Bhurban moot. The Afghan President is expected to visit Islamabad on June 27 on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s invitation.
When asked how the peace process would reach its conclusion without the participation of the Afghan Taliban on a neutral reconciliatory platform, Pakistani and Afghan delegates told Arab News that discussions were just a preliminary step.
“It is the first step to share brainstorming ideas to support the efforts and (eventually) try to evolve,” Shamshad Ahmed Khan, LCPR Chairman and a former diplomat, said.
Responding to a question from Arab News, Qureshi said, “The time to move forward has come and the fact that this leadership of 57 (Afghan) delegates have traveled all the way to Bhurban is an acknowledgement of a new beginning and of a new process.”
“There are a number of processes going on at a time. One cannot replace the other, but one can complement the other,” Qureshi added, highlighting the many peace talks that have taken place this year, from the Doha process, the Moscow format and the China trilateral, among others.
Talking to Arab News, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan politician and founder of the Hezb-e Islami party, praised Pakistan’s decision of arranging the peace conference.
“War in Afghanistan has equally damaged Pakistan. However, some powers still do not wish to see peace in our country. We appreciate the process being initiated and backed by Pakistan.”
Other experts were less optimistic.
Rustam Shah, former Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan, told Arab News: “These talks will not yield anything concrete or tangible but it is important to note that the Taliban are participating in several forums and have been recognized as principal stakeholder.”
He said that despite contentious issues, “I think now they will speak soon to the political setup.”