After years of mistrust and tension-filled relations, there are now indications that Afghanistan’s new President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are ready to “bury the hatchet,” open a new chapter in bilateral ties between the two neighboring countries, and boost cooperation in the quest for peace and security in the region.

In a meeting with Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan’s top security adviser in Kabul on Sunday, Ghani emphasized that the two countries should discard the practice of blaming each other every time there is an attack by the Taleban on both sides of their border.

Aziz, who delivered Sharif’s formal invitation for Ghani to visit Pakistan, said he is optimistic that a meeting between the two leaders would result in the reconciliation between Kabul and Islamabad whose relationship has been marred by mistrust.

Pakistani and Afghan leaders are giving positive signals about the future relations of the two countries where tension over border and security issues had impacted negatively on their desire to cooperate in the fight against terrorism and violence perpetrated by the Taleban and other insurgent groups.

The leaders of both countries realize that without enhanced cooperation they cannot hope to finally end the terrorist activities of the Taleban that have become a scourge in both countries, ruining their economies and subjecting their citizens to untold suffering.

It is widely believed that Afghanistan could face serious security challenges after the end of US-NATO combat mission this year, after which the Afghan forces will take the burden of ensuring the country’s security. The Taleban have shown no sign to stop fighting and Kabul would need Islamabad’s cooperation in the difficult reconciliation process.

Afghan leaders have insisted that Pakistan still has a deep influence on the Afghan Taleban and the country’s role would be important to achieve the goal. In his farewell address last month, former President Hamid Karzai said that the keys to the reconciliation process with the Taleban are Pakistan and the US.

As instability in Afghanistan directly affects Pakistan, analysts said that it is to the best interest of Pakistan to play a vital role in trying to encourage the Taleban to join the intra-Afghan dialogue, which has the support of the whole world. Political watchers are unanimous that no foreign-imposed solution could work.

One analyst said that the Afghan Taleban should review its stubborn approach of ignoring Kabul’s initiative for a peace dialogue, adding that they should not set a condition for joining the peace process since it will redound to Afghanistan’s own stability and the prosperity of its people.

The analyst said that to encourage the Taleban to come to the negotiating table, the Afghan government would have to undertake some confidence-building measures that could include the reopening of the Taliban political office in Qatar.

The release of the Taleban leaders and efforts to remove names of the Taleban leaders from the United Nations sanction lists could also be important confidence- building measure.

But some observers said that for the Taleban to agree to the peace dialogue would be an uphill battle particularly now that Kabul has signed a bilateral security arrangement with Washington. But this is precisely where Pakistan should come in, one observer said.

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Courtesy: Xinhua