Anatol Lieven

ISLAMABAD: “Afghanistan should be treated like any other country,” said Riaz Mohammad Khan, a former top diplomat and writer on foreign relations issues, at the Islamabad Literature Festival in a session called ‘Afghanistan: North-Western Exposure’ on Sunday.

The session was moderated by the experienced journalist Nasim Zehra. The other panelists included Anatol Lieven author of ‘Pakistan: A Hard Country’ and Shahid Hussain, a former foreign secretary and ambassador.

“There is no likelihood of the Taliban coming back to power,” said Dr Lieven, supported by other speakers.

He explained that the Taliban may gain influence in rural areas but not major towns and cities. “A repeat of the 1990s position of the Taliban is impossible,” he added.

Riaz Mohammad Khan said Kabul is no longer a city ruled by Pashtuns. The discussion veered towards Pak-Afghan relations and Mr Khan said “Pakistan has paid a high price for the West’s war in Afghanistan.”

However, he expressed optimism regarding the future of Pak-Afghan relations. He said under President Ashraf Ghani cooperation with Pakistan is likely to improve.

Mr Khan also commented on Ashraf Ghani’s willingness to engage with the Taliban and said that he appeared to be more willing to talk to them than Dr Abdullah Abdullah.

“Yet, to be successful, there is need for a lot of talking and probably also more fighting,” said Dr Lieven. The speakers agreed that the tribal areas in Pakistan must be brought under state control for regional security and stressed that no aggressive action should originate from Pakistani troops.

Dr Lieven and other speakers said that Pakistan should play an active role in assisting Afghanistan and that there is a real desire among Pakistanis for peace in Afghanistan.

Mr Khan reminded the fully-packed hall that Pakistan should realise that Afghanistan has a legitimate right to enter into trade and other agreements with India, the same way Pakistan has the right with China and any other countries.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2015

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