I spoke with former Pakistani Foreign Secretary Najmuddin Shaikh, and he says that Pakistan does not think a military strategy can achieve peace in Afghanistan. Instead, he says Pakistanis believe that they should help promote a political resolution. Watch the story below:
We also discussed a point that Shaikh says international debates are not covering enough: the Pakistan-India dynamic.
The two nuclear powers have fought three wars against each other over the years. Now, India is a major donor in Afghanistan, and Shaikh says Pakistani officials suspect India has strengthened its influence in the war-torn country.
The former foreign secretary also says Pakistanis worry that there is a shortage of troops on their eastern border.
A large number of the Pakistani army’s fighting force is now concentrated in the country’s western regions battling Taliban militants. Shaikh says that if the United States had its way, more Pakistani troops would battle along that border, especially in the North Waziristan tribal area where Jalaluddin Haqqani’s Taliban network is centered.
Coalition commanders say the Haqqani network is a major cause of instability in eastern Afghanistan. These Taliban fighters fled Afghanistan following the U.S.-led invasion, and now operate largely with impunity from the Pakistani military.
I asked Shaikh if Pakistan views the Haqqani network as a strategic asset in Afghanistan in order to counterbalance India’s influence.
Shaikh replied that Jalaluddin Haqqani was “the most capable commander by my reckoning in the resistance against the Soviets and was certainly someone that the Americans talked to in the aftermath of 9/11.” He added that the fighting situation could make for “strange bedfellows” if the future of the Haqqani network remains at the forefront of Pakistan’s relationships with Afghanistan and the United States.
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