TRANSITION IN AFGHANISTAN - National Defence University

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2dependent on foreign aid. Around $15.7 billion alone comes through foreign militaryaid dedicated to improve Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). What about thetraining of ANSF, is the force credible enough to maintain peace and providesecurity? These are serious questions which need to be addressed.Salient Features5. After the introductory remarks by DG, Air Marshal Masood Akhtar (Retd)made a brief presentation on “Afghan Transition- Implications for Pakistan”. The gistof his talk includes:-a. He began his talk by highlighting the importance of the topic especially inthe backdrop of Obama’s second term and opined that Obama’sadministration is going to be more decisive this time. He argued that theUS would leave sufficiently strong forces with regards to counterinsurgencyoperation inside Afghanistan and across Pak-Afghan border inthe form of drone attacks thus, more backlash and more difficulties for thepeople living across the Pak-Afghan border. He viewed that the US wouldwish to eliminate ‘Al-Qaeda’ and ‘Taliban’ to halt future attacks on theWest. With regards to the terrorists network like ‘Al Qaeda’, ‘AfghanTaliban’, ‘Punjabi Taliban’ and ‘Pakistani Taliban’, he said, we are notclear about their mission and, truly speaking, Pakistan has been put into aCatch-22 situation. While Pakistan continues to support ISAF effortshowever, these operations have tended to make things difficult forPakistan.b. During the course of his talk, Air Marshal Masood Akhtar (Retd)highlighted that the Counter Terrorism strategies of Nordic and Westcountries which involve both Kinetic and non-Kinetic means, focusing onwinning hearts and minds of Afghans. It gives a message that ideologycannot be destroyed; it might be contained for some time. When it comesto Pakistan, the emphasis is put on the use of only kinetic force which onlyhelps the extremists to gain more ground and puts the government in a
3difficult situation. Like the ISAF in Afghanistan, Pakistan too needs to winthis war. Thus, it is looking for a balanced Counter Terrorism Strategy. Hemade a point that if Pakistan fails, others may also not succeed.c. He emphasized that the success of the ISAF’s roadmap is linked withnumber of factors including the result of the ongoing negotiations,transparency in election process in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s ambitions,fears/expectations, the role of international community especially in thecontext of their sustainable economic support and the interests of otherregional stakeholders.d. He brought out three rationale on the basis of which Pakistan owe thiswar, one, it threatens Pakistani-Pakistan identity, second, it threatens itsNational Purpose that is Democracy, Freedom, Equality, Tolerance andSocial Justice (DFETS) and finally, it threatens its six suggested VitalNational Interests (VNIs) i.e. national integration and harmony, defenceand security, economic well-being, favorable regional and global order,peoples’ security vis a vis state-security and promotion/affirmation of ournational values. On the other hand, VNIs of all Western nations inAfghanistan are to expand the defence and security parameters, benefitfrom the potential wealth of Afghanistan, containing China and promotionof national values.e. While suggesting the way forward, he opined that Pakistanis must beidentified with the same strategic ideals at the grand strategic level andboth ISAF and Pakistan should follow the same strategy. He said that likethe ‘Swedish National Security Policy on Preventing Terrorism’, Pakistanalso wished to incorporate the factors like openness, strengtheningdemocratic values and an open/ tolerant society in its Counter TerrorismStrategy in line with the rule of law. He suggested that internationalcommunity should trust Pakistan and quoted General Kayani’s statement,“Pakistan should be trusted and enabled”.
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