One of the most important aspects of endeavors for a peaceful life in Afghanistan is its relations with the neighboring countries. It is not possible for Afghanistan to fight the menace of terrorism alone. It requires the support and cooperation of the neighboring countries to a great extent. International community has been playing a dominant role in Afghanistan but they may not keep their support or influence for long.
It is the neighboring countries that can in real sense influence the scenario in the country. Moreover, the phenomenon of terrorism that has been threatening the Afghan society so much is not just the issue of consideration and concern for Afghanistan; rather the neighboring countries especially Pakistan has been influenced by it to a great extent and can influence the scenario in Afghanistan as well. In fact, if peace and tranquility are required to be established in Afghan society, neighboring countries, especially Pakistan and Iran have to play a dominant role.
On Friday, February 17, 2012, the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran met in Islamabad to strengthen the ties among the three nations. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad pledged to cooperate with one another so as to counter terrorism and extremism and achieve peace, security, stability and economic prosperity.
In fact the meeting was the third round of the trilateral meeting that had inaugurated in 2009 so as to enhance cooperation among the three countries. As happens in most of the meetings and conferences, there were pledges to proceed on the basis of mutual interest and non-interference.
The three countries also assured that their territories will not be used against one another. The neighboring countries of Afghanistan seem to consider the presence of NATO troops in Afghanistan a threat to their security. Iran, a traditional rival to US, has always mentioned that NATO troops operating in Afghanistan under the leadership of US must leave the country as soon as possible.
In a joint conference, Iranian President Ahmedinejad mentioned, "Some countries are determined to dominate our region. They have targeted our region for their domination and hegemony." He definitely pointed at US. He also urged the three nations participating in the meeting to stand united against such force.
Pakistan on the other hand has made it clear on various occasions that US presence in their immediate neighborhood is a clear threat to their security. It is really a challenge for both Afghanistan and US to make the regional powers believe that the presence of NATO troops in Afghanistan is not going to threaten their security and it is not an easy task.
Afghan President, in this regard, has also tried to guarantee confidence but much has not been attained yet in this regard. On the other hand, there are concerns shown by Afghanistan on various occasions regarding the support of Taliban from the Pakistani side of the border.
On different occasions when there have been major incidents of terrorism within Afghanistan, the links have been traced from the neighboring Pakistan. However, Pakistan has always tried to negate the claims. In a press conference after the meeting on Friday, Pakistani President, denying the claims that Pakistan's armed forces are involved in supporting the terrorism in Afghanistan said, "I deny the notion that our armed forces are directly or indirectly involved… May be there are people among population who are involved in this, but this is an international problem."
Currently, there are unsolved issues among Pakistan and Afghanistan and Pakistan and US and that is proving very much detrimental for the overall peace process that is going on. It is widely accepted that Pakistan can play a dominant role in the reconciliation process with Taliban.
President Karzai also mentioned in the conference, "We need to formulate a policy that is actionable and implementable." Definitely, it is the need of time that the policy should be actionable and implementable and it must be implemented as well.
Answering to a question about the Taliban's political bureau in Islamabad, President Karzai mentioned that it is not possible at the moment because of some unsolved matters between the two countries. He also mentioned that it is not important where the Taliban office is, "What's important to us is that the war and bloodshed in Afghanistan should end." However, currently Afghan government does not seem much satisfied from the Taliban office in Qatar and its outcomes.
Apart from the issue of terrorism and security, there were discussions about some other important issues as well in the meeting. Among them the drug trafficking and economic cooperation were the most important ones. Drug production and trafficking in Afghanistan has been a very concerning issue. The country is being rated as the top drug producing country.
Most of the drugs produced in Afghanistan are trafficked to Iran and Pakistan and from there to other parts of the world. The demand of the drugs in the neighboring countries and the international drug markets and the inappropriate measures on the part of Afghan government to counter them have been adding more concerns to the issue. Moreover, it also funds most of the terrorist activities in the region. Therefore, it is necessary for the three nations to deal with this situation as seriously as terrorism and security as they are interlinked.
It is really encouraging to see the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran stand united and talk of cooperation and peace. However, there have never been concrete measures taken in convert the promises to practical measures.
The talks have only proved to be very much ostentatious and they have not been able to guarantee solution. It is now time for the three nations to act wisely and form real ties that should be based on true practices. It is nice to pursue one's own national interest but they have to understand that most of their issues are interwoven into one another so complexly that it is not possible for only one of them to stay aloof and avoid trouble and be able to solve the issues.
All of them have to come to the ground and be a participant in change. Promises alone can not guarantee stability and prosperity. This has been proved throughout the history of the nations of the world; therefore it must not be difficult for them to understand this basic principle.