APROPOS the article ‘A rare overture’ (Feb 19). The writer has rightly pointed out the pitfalls of a fight now talk later policy. The stalemate in Afghanistan owes itself to a unique sort of economic equilibrium between stakeholders.

Taliban ruler Mullah Mohammad Omar (1996-2001) had outlawed poppy cultivation and poppy trade in the 1990s.

That was then; now the ushr gains from growing poppy in Afghanistan are equitably shared between stakeholders. The pictures of foreign soldiers posing in poppy fields confirm the allegations that the intervening force is also a shareholder in the revenues generated by Afghan poppy.

Afghanistan produces 92 percent of the world’s opium, and the drug trade is now worth $65 billion.

The crux of the problem is that Afghanistan has a predominantly agrarian economy. Opium production contributes 35 pc to its gross domestic product while all other cereal crops combined contribute about 27pc only. There is a symbiotic relationship between the people’s needs for socio-economic security and poppy cultivation.

According to UN reports, poppy and opium production in Afghanistan increased to a record 9,000 tons in 2017 from a mere 221 tons in 2001. The ushr collected on poppy generates around from $22 million to $44m annually.

To add, Afghans are forced to live on substandard imported wheat. A shipment of 15,000 tons of Indian wheat, which arrived via the Iranian port of Chahbahar, in October 2017 proved to be unfit for human consumption. For the Afghans, poppy is still the favourite crop.

Many Afghan governors act as custodians of poppy-growing lands. No need for talks when everybody is happy with the implicit economic equilibrium.

Mohammad Sa’ad

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2018