Afghanistan: Essential Tasks

One basic aspect of the international approach to Afghanistan is the tendency to shape strategy, make decisions and operate on the ground in a way that the Afghans perceive as disrespectful and sometimes arrogant. What the Americans did in Vietnam they are doing almost the same in Afghanistan without regard to the self-respect, pride and dignity as well as culture of the Afghan people, and the counterproductive nature of the consequences of such behaviour does not bear elaboration. In fact the Afghan people sometimes quite logically feel that their country was being treated as a no-man’s land and not a sovereign state. The same feeling is strong among the Afghan Government personnel and leadership as well and this perceived attitude has contributed in no small measure to tension between the Afghan Government and the US-led international community active in the country, fuelled suspicion of foreign interference and bred a sense of humiliation among both the Kabul officials and the public at large. There is no gainsaying that all efforts must be made to bring this perceived attitude to an end if the global endeavours to ensure victory in the war on terror and a return to peace, amity and harmony within Afghanistan and the region as a whole are to succeed.

Security in the country has regrettably deteriorated in a marked manner of late and this despite the concerted international and Afghan moves to salvage the situation. This is particularly true of the northern provinces. And the source of insecurity remain the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. In this scenario it becomes essential for all parties to dispense with euphemisms. Any further step to improve the conditions in Afghanistan should not violate or contradict the provisions of the Afghanistan-related UN Security Council resolutions including those that had established the sanctions regime and are connected with it. The possibility of reaching agreement with any section of the Taliban (by describing it as ‘moderate’) or other extremist groups must not be even thought of or considered. Dialogue should be undertaken only with those militants who have laid down their arms and snapped all ties with the Al-Qaeda and other terrorist structures. One should never be oblivious of the fact that a large majority of deaths has been caused by the Taliban, primarily responsible for the loss of life across the Afghan landmass.

As far as the global drug threat is concerned, it demands decisive steps and the international community must move to a new level of global action against this growing danger. For several years, troops of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) have cooperated with the Afghan Government, as have the member-states of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), to combat the menace and give a thrust to the fight against durg business. However, currently more action is necessary to curb the trade in precursors employed in producing heroin, entering the country from Europe.

In tackling all these problems confronting Afghanistan, it is imperative for states from the surrounding region, apart from regional organisations like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and CSTO, to play a positive role in the coming days.