Chicago conference will be held next month. The future of international engagement will be discussed. Afghanistan has already signed strategic agreements with several western countries as well as India. These countries will continue to aid Afghanistan in one way or another. But it should be said that over the last ten years there has been a substantial flow of international aid into the country but the effectiveness is not clear and people do not see any tangible changes in their lives. The rampant corruption and inefficiency of the government are the two main factors for failure to make a difference in people's lives.

Unfortunately, in advance of any international conference on Afghanistan, the government begins some rhetorical commitments to fight corruption. It usually does that by setting up any commission or committee to counter corruption. Or sometimes the government talks about corruption in the run-up to any conference by disclosing any real or unreal corruption case.

Another tactic used by Afghan government to hoodwink Afghan people is putting all the blame on international organizations operating in different fields in the country. Or the government asks for more control over aid and spending on security forces.

Obviously, it also insists that Afghan government should lead anti-corruption efforts. For instance, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jawed Ludin has said that Afghanistan's government will push at an upcoming conference of donor countries in Chicago for Afghans to have more control over aid and security assistance spending, and that Kabul should also spearhead anti-corruption efforts.

He has stated, "For the last 10 years ... I think there was a degree of engagement, direct intimate engagement by the international community in Afghanistan's affairs that will probably be undesirable in the future." But once the conference is over, the government sinks deeper into corruption and forgets its commitments to Afghan people and international donors.

Afghanistan is the second most corrupt country. It has been several years that president Karzai has been pledging to fight the scourge but he has never demonstrated any serious will or has not taken any practical action to do so. Had such a will been demonstrated or such an action been taken, today we would not have been witness to widening gap between the government and Afghan people, who have grown tired of government's corruption and inefficiency.

International community must, this time, put real pressure on Afghan government to fight corruption genuinely and no longer deceive Afghan people and its international allies and donors. Since international community is providing the aid, they have the leverage to hold it to account. President Karzai's strategy of threatening to join the Taliban if he is pressured by international community for rooting out corruption should no longer scare international community. President Karzai may join the Taliban but Afghan people will be with them.

But right now by continuing to support president Karzai's corrupt government, international community is alienating Afghan people. They always expect Afghan people to revolt against Karzai's incompetency and inefficiency but it should be said that a decentralized power structure along with international support for this corrupt administration leaves no room for the people to get rid of it.