PESHAWAR: Tajikistan ambassador to Islamabad Ismatullo Nasredin has said the real and sustainable peace in Afghanistan is not possible without taking ethnic composition of the war-torn country into account.

“Real peace in Afghanistan is not possible without engaging all ethnic groups in the peace process,” the ambassador said during an interactive session at the Area Study Centre of the University of Peshawar here on Friday.

The envoy said the big mistake of western colleagues, who were trying to bring peace to Afghanistan, was that they didn’t take into consideration the multi-ethnicity of the country.

Says his country fully backs Pakistan’s peace initiatives

“If you talk only to people in Kabul, it will have no effect in Kunduz, Mazari Sharif or any other part of the country. And this is very clear,” he said while responding to questions from faculty members during the one and half hours long candid discussion.

Mr Nasredin said Tajikistan fully supported Pakistan’s initiatives for restoration of peace in Afghanistan as both countries had same views on many regional issues.

He said the resolution of Afghan conflict was not only important for Dushanbe and Islamabad but for the whole region as well.

The ambassador said his country had always proposed at different international forums to invite representatives of all ethnic groups to peace talks if they (western countries) wanted to resolve problems in Afghanistan, which, he believed, was a very complicated issue.

“Very unfortunately, our western colleagues don’t understand too much about the history of the region and ethnic connectivity in different parts of Afghanistan,” he said, adding that ethnic groups, including Uzbek and Turkmen, should be taken on board otherwise real peace would never come to Afghanistan.

Mr Nasredin said the Northern Alliance was totally destroyed due to its ethnic composition but very powerful armed groups still had presence in northern parts of Afghanistan.

About Afghan Taliban, he said there were many groups inside the movement, who have different views about future of their country.

The ambassador said regional countries could facilitate and help Afghans find their own way to end the four decades long conflict.

He said negotiations with the Afghan Taliban alone would never bring peace to Afghanistan and that his country was in contacts with all ethnic groups.

“If people of Afghanistan decide that the Taliban are their rulers, we will accept this choice of Afghan people,” he said.

Regarding trade relations between Pakistan and Tajikistan, the envoy said potential had not been utilised fully, so the volume of bilateral trade was $92.3 million in 2013, which was currently $62 million.

About bilateral military and security cooperation, he said relations between the armies of the two countries were ‘on a very high level’.

The ambassador said the Pakistan Army had been assisting Tajikistan’s in the field of ammunition, technical support and training.

He said his country was very carefully following the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, which was in its interest for connecting it with China by road.

Mr Nasredin said Tajikistan was using Pakistani ports for shipping a very big part of cargo.

He spoke about potential and promotion of tourism in the region saying there is huge potential for Pakistani tourists in Tajikistan, especially in religious tourism.

He called for the opening of Wakhan Corridor saying the 15 kilometers narrow land strip has geographic significance.

The envoy said the corridor belonging to Afghanistan divided Pakistan and Tajikistan.

“My country has been trying to convince Afghanistan to open this corridor for tourists. Because of its unique geographical location, tourists can visit three countries within a day by walking,” he said.

Mr Nasredin said Tajikistan and Pakistan should continue efforts to convince Afghanistan to open the corridor for tourists as that economic activity would benefit people of the three countries.

Director of the Area Study Centre Dr Shabbir Ahmad Khan said Pakistan attached great significance to its relations with Central Asian Republics.

He said there was also a growing realisation among CARs regarding the important geographical location of Pakistan vis-à-vis the land locked region of Central Asia.

Dr Shabbir submitted a proposed draft of the MoU between Area Study Centre and the Centre for Strategic Research under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2019