Current Projects
India, Pakistan Battle for Influence Over Afghanistan
While India focusses on building dams, highways and new Parliament in Afghanistan; Pakistan has pledged a fresh round of $500 million in October for infrastructure Giant trucks thunder along the main stretch of highway that peels away from the Pakistani border, carrying cement, fruit and chemicals to the Afghan city of Jalalabad. Vulnerable to attacks from Taliban and Islamic State militants, the crucial 74-kilometre expanse of road that runs near the famed Khyber Pass is undergoing a major facelift after security concerns forced a seven-year delay in the project. As well as paving the way for an expansion in bilateral trade between the two countries, the road is at the center of the struggle between Pakistan and India to maintain influence over Afghanistan. Strategic interests “It’s strategic interest that is prompting investment in Afghanistan,” Imtiaz Gul, executive director at the Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad. “Goodwill is secondary.” In the last decade India’s investment in Afghanistan has created discomfort for Pakistan, he noted. In October, Pakistan pledged a further $500 million to help reconstruct Afghanistan, in addition to an existing $500 million package on health, education and infrastructure that includes a 400-bed hospital in Kabul and more than 2000 scholarships for Afghan students. “India, too, has focused on building infrastructure such as dams, highways, and power infrastructure as well as the new parliament in Kabul. It has largely refrained from supporting Kabul militarily because of Pakistani sensitivities,” said Dhruva Jaishankar, fellow at the Brookings India think tank. “For India, the priority is a stable and plural Afghanistan and the defeat of the Taliban. This would ensure that the region is not a hotbed for terrorism and is instead a conduit to Central Asia,” Jaishankar said. Militant insurgency Meanwhile, Afghanistan remains in the grip of a resurgent Taliban and repeated attacks from Islamic State...
Mediatised Understanding of the Indo-Pak Conflict
“Ma’am, why is it only India who always initiates Peace”, asked a class XII student I asked him to share some examples. He quoted bilateral meetings initiated by India, PM Narendra Modi’s swearing in ceremony and his visit to Pakistan. He further said that India keeps initiating without any positive response. Initially, I shared some examples to burst the “peace is one-sided” narrative that exists in both countries. I then asked him to share the source of his information. To which he replied that he reads the newspaper regularly. Thereafter, I provided some clues to facilitate a discussion in the whole class about yellow journalism, the way media works as a means for the ends of a nation-state, the politics of media and moreover, knowledge between India and Pakistan. This conversation was part of a peace building workshop of Aaghaz-e-Dosti, an Indo-Pak Friendship Initiative, in a school in Delhi. These workshops that are about peace building and conflict resolution in general and Indo-Pak in specific are designed to familiarize students about life and people across the border, educate them about issues of conflict between India and Pakistan, and to facilitate critical thinking. Based on the responses of students and the interaction, this workshop highlighted the role that media plays in Indo-Pak relations. In view of the restrictions in mobility, the media forms the main source of knowledge between India and Pakistan. The media is the platform to know the ‘other’. It is also the platform to understand the Conflict. As we see in the above cited incident, the student had a particular image of Pakistan and Indo-Pak peace based on his readings of the newspapers. This was not limited to this one student, school or just to India. During my trip to Pakistan last year, I had interacted with students in a Lahore school. The students raised the case of a Pakistani musical band that faced opposition by an extremist, anti-peace political group in India. The students believed...
Pak-India Tensions
Is it brinkmanship or something more? With the decade-old ceasefire along the LoC already in tatters, India appears determined to find new avenues of provocation against Pakistan. Over the weekend, first an Indian submarine attempted to intrude into Pakistani waters, according to official accounts, and then a small Indian surveillance drone was knocked down after it strayed across the LoC, again according to official statements. While each incident may individually seem small and both sides will likely dispute what really occurred, it is alarming that incidents, especially one involving a submarine, are taking place at the moment. Pakistan-India ties are not merely in a deep freeze, but appear to be further unravelling. Seemingly that is the intention of the Indian leadership. Do both sides truly understand the risks they appear so willing to stoke? While it is difficult to definitively ascribe motives to the actions of an external rival, it does seem that the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rejected the idea of engaging Pakistan in dialogue and is determined to go down a path of increasing military tensions. Perhaps this is because the Indian state wants to deflect attention from its troubles in India-held Kashmir or because a strong, militaristic nationalism is the campaign platform of choice for the BJP, which faces crucial state elections once again in the year ahead. With the election of a hawkish Donald Trump in the US, Mr Modi may even now be gambling that the year ahead will see closer cooperation between India and the US and more pressure on Pakistan from the new American administration to address US and Indian concerns about specific militant groups allegedly operating on Pakistani soil. So the combination of pre-existing preferences and the introduction of a new, unpredictable factor in the election of Mr Trump may be the cause of a fresh spike in Pakistan-India tensions. Perhaps all sides, including the incoming US...
Pakistan, Russia, China Seek To Crack Afghan Conundrum
In international diplomacy, there are no permanent friends or foes. This oft-repeated cliché perfectly illustrates the current transformation of Pakistan-Russia relationship. When Afghanistan was in turmoil in the 1980s, Moscow and Islamabad were in opposite camps. But their Cold War rivalry has taken a dramatic turn. And the two countries are now exploring options to become partners for bringing peace in Afghanistan. For this purpose, Russia will host first-ever trilateral talks involving Pakistan and China next month in an effort to crack the Afghan conundrum. “This is a watershed moment,” said a senior Pakistani official, who believes the development is part of the realignment taking place in this part of the world. Last month, Pakistan and Russia held their first-ever joint military drills in a landmark development showing gradual improvement in their ties marred by Cold War rivalry in the past. Moscow ignored Indian demand not to hold joint military exercise with Islamabad after attack on its military base in Uri in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts also suffered a setback when President Vladimir Putin refused to toe his line on Pakistan during the recent BRICS summit in Goa. The official with knowledge of the upcoming Pakistan-Russia-China trilateral meeting told The Express Tribune that it clearly showed that Modi’s efforts to isolate Pakistan had failed. The official requested not to be quoted on the record because he was not authorised to speak to the media. He said the three-way talks will discuss how to bring an end to the long running conflict in Afghanistan and prevent groups such as Islamic State, aka Da’ish, from gaining a foothold in the war-torn country. When contacted, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said the initiative was aimed at bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region at large. “The deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan has raised concerns about the...
Acrimony to Amenity
The Sharbat Gula episode coupled with recent bomb explosions in and around Kabul continue to blemish prospects of any real improvement in bilateral ties with Pakistan. Both the countries may have to wait for a long time for an attitudinal change to happen. The level of mistrust has almost disturbed the DNA of the relationship. Figuratively speaking, foreign bodies are feasting more on the frail strength of Afghanistan- Pakistan fraternal ties and their proverbial plethora of common interests than the internal dynamics of their relationship. The commitment of Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah to “good and positive ties with Islamabad” at a meeting in Kabul with the combined delegation from CRSS (Centre for Research & Security Studies) & WPSO (Women &Peace Studies Organization) was indeed heartening. But sustained meaningful talks, which may infuse sanity as well as vibrancy, in the current atmosphere of hostility and misunderstanding on the part of ruling elites in both countries, will be next to impossible. The mistrust has spread through the entire body of relationship. The historic baggage and the one still in the making are hard to lay off. Is there no silver lining? Have the elites, especially hawks, forgotten how much both the countries have sacrificed for a war which was not their own and was imposed on them by outsiders. Afghanistan has suffered the most but Pakistan no less, both in blood and material. According to the Global Terrorism Index 2016 report released by the Institute for Economics and Peace this week, Afghanistan ranked number two, after Iraq, for the year 2015. Afghanistan suffered the worst year so far, resulting in nearly 18,000 deaths from the conflict in 2015. TOLO news shows that October was the deadliest month in the past two years with more than 6,000 insurgents, nearly 500 security forces and more than 700 civilians killed or wounded in October. Pakistan has so far suffered 60,000 deaths, billions of material damages and...
New Guidelines for Afghan Repatriation On The Cards
The Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (Safron) has finalised a set of proposals/guidelines for the repatriation of Afghan refugees that will soon be placed before the federal cabinet for approval. Senior officials in the ministry told The Express Tribune on Sunday that the guidelines have been devised for the smooth and voluntary return of Afghan nationals after Safron Minister Abdul Qadir Baloch consulted the mainstream political parties in parliament on the issue. They include: issuing multiple entry/special visas to Afghan students, investors and those with Pakistani spouses, while the people coming for health reasons would be granted visa on arrival at Torkham. Granting an indefinite visa or permanent residence — if not nationality — to all those born in Pakistan and advocated by several political parties, as well as civil society organisations, has also been under discussion, an official said. Afghanistan’s envoy Dr Omar Zakhilwal also confirmed that Pakistan is in the process of announcing a package for the refugees. “I am glad that the Chief Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees and the Ministry of Safron in consultation with us, have put together a package of proposals which will respond to the needs of these special categories once approved,” Zakhilwal, who is also President Ashraf Ghani’s special representative for Pakistan, told The Express Tribune on Sunday. “We are optimistic this package will be discussed and approved by the government of Pakistan in the near future,” he said. He said there are some categories of refugees that need special provisions — including those who own properties and businesses worth billions of dollars, Afghans who have Pakistani spouses and students who are in the midst of their studies in Pakistani universities. “While we are happy that 600,000 Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland (from Pakistan) since July, we encourage and welcome the return of thousands continuously on a daily basis,” he said. In Kabul,...
Pak-Afghan Dialogue Call For Enhanced Cooperation
Pakistani and Afghan delegates wrapped up their unofficial dialogue in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif with a call on both countries to boost cooperation in the field of culture, education, sports and the media. They agreed that enhanced interaction in the fields of education, culture and sports would help to bridge the trust gap as the relations between the two neighboring countries have deteriorated to the detriment of their respective interests, according to a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting. The dialogue “Beyond Boundaries” under the Track-II mechanism was jointly organized by the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies in partnership with its counterpart in Kabul, Women & Peace Studies Organization (WPSO). On trade both sides urged their respective governments for the early finalization of the review of the Afghan Pakistan Trade Transit Agreement (APTTA) to give a boost to bilateral trade. The participants comprise five to seven members each from Pakistan and Afghanistan including security experts, parliamentarians, civil society, and business/media representatives. The Pakistani delegation comprised: Dr. Shoaib Suddle, former Intelligence Bureau Chief, Qazi Humayun, Mian Sanaullah (both former ambassadors), Shazia Marri, PPP member of the National Assembly, Imtiaz Gul, the CRSS director and Tahir Khan, journalist.In their recommendations both sides took note of the recent episode of the green-eyed Afghan girl Sharbat Gula which necessitates the need to evolve a legal mechanism for the benefit of vulnerable Afghan refugees especially a) females/ spouses, b) children born in Pakistan, c) protection of their properties and movable assets as per law. Both sides agreed to urge their respective governments to ensure repatriation of Afghan refugees with dignity and honor; particularly for Afghan investors, students, medical and other deserving categories. This article originally appeared in The Pakistan...
Parliament Kicks Out Ministers Again: A Multi-Dimensional Power Struggle
The Afghan parliament’s lower house has sacked seven ministers in a new wave of interpellations (estizah). It is not clear who instigated the estizah motions, MPs themselves or Palace intrigue, or who will come out as the winner (the president has told the ministers to stay in their posts and called on the Supreme Court to reverse the MPs decisions). But the affair shows that the long-standing conflict between the two camps within the government is far from over. The estizahaffair is compounded by additional rifts within the Jamiat party and the long-standing conflict between the executive and parliament. Thomas Ruttig (with input from Ehsan Qaane and Salima Ahmadi) looked into the various levels of conflicts and concludes that another painful process of appointments – and wrangling over them – could be restarted, further bogging down the government. Seven ministers voted off The Wolesi Jirga, the Afghan parliament’s lower house, voted seven members of the cabinet out of office last week. MPs scrutinised 16 ministers in five sessions held every day, an unusual although not unique pace of work (a 17th minister who was on the original list had already resigned for – genuine – health reasons and was exempted). Usually, the Wolesi Jirga only convenes on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays and struggles to reach a quorum (see AAN analysis here and here), but for these sessions over 200 out of the current 235 MPs participated in each one. The procedure is called estizah (interpellation) and the power of the MPs to deliver such motions to call ministers to account is enshrined in the constitution. Use of that power, however, has often proved detrimental to government; it has regularly interrupted both the work of the cabinet and parliament itself (which could have devoted its time to more urgent legislative matters). For the National Unity Government (NUG), which took a painstaking two years to establish a full cabinet that finally completed in June 2016, this is the...
Afghan Weekly (Nov 12 – Nov 17, 2016)
The Global Terrorism Index 2016 report released by the Institute for Economics and Peace this week ranked Afghanistan number two, after Iraq, for the year 2015. As per the report, terrorism increased 29 percent to 4,502 deaths and battlefield deaths increased 34 per cent to over 15,000 in the previous year. The Taliban were responsible for 85 per cent of all deaths from terrorism, carrying out 1,094 attacks that killed 4,502 people. Police remained the main target of attacks by the Taliban and accounted for half of all attacks and deaths. Additionally, the US Department of State’s Humanitarian Information Unit also released a report this week disclosing that, on top of the existing 5 million refugee returnees since 2002, this year more than 550,000 Afghans are returning migrants and refugees from Pakistan, while another 485,000 are conflict induced internally displaced persons. As part of Afghanistan’s fight against terrorism, during a meeting with the UNSC delegation in Kabul this week, President Ghani urged the delegation to include the names of the terrorists together with Taliban chief in the sanctions list, also insisting that international talks should be held to help curb the financial resources of the militants. On the other hand, Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, in a meeting with the delegates of the unofficial Pak-Afghan dialogue convened by CRSS-WPSO in Kabul, stated that he looks forward to his upcoming visit to Pakistan where he expects to have substantive discussions on bilateral relations, including on the common threat of terrorism. He also affirmed that Afghanistan wants good and positive ties with Pakistan keeping in view the good neighborhood principle. More such updates on this week’s security, internal politics, international engagements and socio-economic developments in Afghanistan are as follow. A Security Overview Four Americans Killed in Unprecedented Suicide Attack at U.S. Base in Afghanistan – November 12, 2016 A...
Pak-Afghan dialogue: Regional peace hinges on eradicating terrorism
Delegates at an unofficial dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan renewed calls for both governments to take steps against cross-border movement of terrorists and stressed the need for rooting out terrorism in the interest of regional peace and stability. Recognising the deterioration in relations between the two countries, they underscored the need for enhancing interactions in education, culture and sports. Both sides discussed various crucial issues such as peace and security, refugees, media cooperation, movement of goods and people and liberalising visa regimes. The dialogue, titled ‘Beyond Boundaries’ under Track-II mechanism, was jointly organised by the Islamabad-based Centre for Research and Security Studies and the Kabul-based Women and Peace Studies Organization (WPSO). Discussions were held between five and seven members from Pakistan and Afghanistan and participants included security experts, parliamentarians, members of the civil society and business and media representatives. The Pakistani team included former Balochistan police chief Dr Shoaib Suddle, Qazi Humayun and Mian Sanaullah (both former ambassadors) and PPP MNA Shazia Marri. Focusing on the recent episode of Sharbat Gula’s deporation, both sides agreed upon the need for evolving a legal mechanism for benefiting vulnerable Afghan refugees. Both sides agreed to urge their respective governments to ensure repatriation of Afghan refugees with dignity and honor. On trade, both sides urged their respective governments to quickly review the Afghan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement. Members of the Pakistani group visited two under construction projects in Kabul, namely Jinnah Hospital and Rehman Baba School and hoste
TOP STORIES
TESTIMONIALS
“
I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.