Jul 02, 2011

By: Halimullah Kousary 

A poll conducted between December 2010 and February 2011 by the BBC World Service in 24 countries around the world concluded that 40% of the 24,000 people support NATO negotiations with the Taliban. Moreover, 16% of respondents surveyed supported immediate withdrawal of the NATO forces and 29% supported continued effort to defeat the Taliban.   The poll was conducted when Osama Bin Laden was still at large living in Abbottabad city of Pakistan about 60 miles northwest of Islamabad. After Osama’s death in May 2011, the discourse of reconciliation with the Taliban heated up and the belief that negotiation was the most feasible solution to the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan further strengthened. Emphasis on negotiation with the Taliban has reached a level where NATO and the Afghan government now want Pakistan, a supporter of the Afghan Taliban, to bring them to the negotiation table with the Afghan government. On 10th June, 2011 Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a two day visit to Pakistan – his first visit to Pakistan since the death of Osama Bin Ladin. However, during the visit, the issue of sanctuaries and Pakistan’s support for the Taliban were not discussed; instead concerns pertaining to reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban and improving the Af-Pak trade relations became the major topics of discussion.  The Afghan government believes that Pakistan’s support critical to the overall success of the reconciliation process in Afghanistan.  It is acknowledgeable that Pakistan could be helpful in the Afghan reconciliation process but a more important issue to analyse is the extent to which Pakistan has the will and capability to play a constructive role in the Afghan peace and reconciliation process.
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