Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Dr Moeed Yusuf has said that abandoning Afghanistan again by the international community will be a mistake. He was delivering the keynote address at an international webinar organized by the Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS), Islamabad on ‘Future of Afghanistan and Regional Stability: Challenges, Opportunities & Way Forward.’
Dr Moeed Yusuf said that the world needs to constructively engage Afghan Taliban in order to prevent governance collapse and avert another refugee crisis. He said Pakistan was coordinating with the world to have a stable and peaceful Afghanistan.
Dr Yusuf said that after the Soviet-Afghan Mujahideen conflict in Afghanistan, the
Western world committed catastrophic mistakes, including abandoning Afghanistan and sanctioning its “most allied of allies” and Pakistan was the only country which bore the brunt of abandonment of Afghanistan and the subsequent War on Terror.
Dr Long Xingchun, President Chengdu Institute of World Affairs of China said that neighboring countries have to play the leading role in rebuilding Afghanistan and Pakistan is the most important country in this regard. He said that CPEC should be extended to Afghanistan and Gwadar port can play a big role in strengthening Afghan economy.
Russian geopolitical expert Leonid Savin said that the recent take-over by Afghan Taliban has changed the regional political dynamics and this will have an impact on global politics. He said Russia can recognize the new government if China recognizes it first.
Professor Dr Fazl-Ul-Hadi Wazeen of Salam University, Kabul said that the international community should not corner Afghanistan and give the new government a chance to rule while Afghan Taliban must also keep their promises, adopt a reconciliatory approach and refrain from the use of force.
Dr Syed Qandi Abbas of Quaid-e-Azam University said that both Pakistan and Iran expect an inclusive permanent Afghan government in future. He said that the current interim government is not inclusive which has included only three non-Pushtun individuals, out of a total of 34 and Iran expects a greater accommodation of non-Pushtun people if a civil war is to be avoided in future in Afghanistan.
Air Marshal Farhat Hussain Khan (Retd), Acting President of CASS and former Vice Chief of the Air Staff of PAF, in his concluding address urged the world to give peace a chance in Afghanistan and the region, after trying everything else in the past. He also stressed that the regional countries have a common interest in a peaceful and stable Afghanistan while regional connectivity projects such as CPEC could be the harbinger of economic well-being and prosperity for the whole region.
The webinar was moderated by Syed Muhammad Ali, Director Nuclear & Strategic Affairs, Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies. He said that Afghanistan has remained a victim of conflicts and abandonment. Now the Afghan people deserve international help to rebuild a stable nation-state, in return for a security commitment by the new Afghan government that Afghanistan’s territory will not be used against any other country.
