Finding peace in Afghanistan

As the second meeting of the Kabul Process came to a conclusion recently, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani made an unconditional call to the Taliban to sit across the table, initiating a conversation for peace in the country with the government.

In the protracted Afghan conflict, multiple stakeholders have seized strategic limelight at several junctures. Moreover, the United States under President Donald Trump has secured profound imminence in Afghanistan: from a mandate of minimal involvement to multiplying forces on the ground.

Russia, Iran, Pakistan, China and India are the few other global players who have emerging stakes in the Afghan state-building process. This is coupled with the mounting pressure on the respective leaders to ensure national security that has come to be threatened by escalating radicalism in Afghanistan.

There has been an incessant call for peacebuilding and transformation of the conflict that is touted as the longest battle fought by the US. In this scenario, Ghani's government has decided to engage progressively with the Taliban, as a legitimate actor in peacebuilding, which has been much talked about as a suitable approach during several multilateral dialogues, especially by China early last year.

On the other hand, Taliban has cleared the air by calling Trump to hold a conversation, recognising them as a legitimate actor in peacebuilding. And the US has shown hesitancy in doing so.

The approach of engaging with Taliban has long been debated upon by the many different actors involved in the Afghan conflict. While India and the US have opposed the proposal plucking out fundamental flaws in the approach, Russia, China and even Pakistan have been strong supporters and have consistently made attempts to engage with the Taliban.

At this juncture where Afghanistan continues to be dishevelled by the mounting Islamic violence, it is paramount to engage with the relevant actors who can facilitate peacebuilding in the domestic realm.

In so doing, Taliban is a conspicuous player while its demands of holding legitimacy in the institutional domain have long been contested by the civilian actors. Its goals are fundamentally in contradiction with the government forces that hold power in the region.

Taliban, with a stance to lead a conversation with the US, have ensured that they gain optimum recognition and legitimacy as a relevant actor in the process of peacebuilding.

The Taliban released a statement recently reiterating their demand to "talk directly with the American officials regarding a peaceful solution to the Afghan quandary". They mooted "we are the real parties, so let's sit and talk directly, without the presence of any third party, either Pakistan or Afghanistan".

In this situation, Trump took a U-turn in urging to rather increase military deployment instead of sitting for a political settlement with the Taliban. Earlier, Laurel Millier, who served as the acting US special representative of Afghanistan and Pakistan until June last year, echoed the goal of Trump's Afghanistan strategy 'to increase military pressure on the Taliban in order to motivate them to engage in a political settlement'.

Contradictorily, Trump in the present situation reckons the need to disengage with the Taliban. Such a stance while ensuring to portray a strong face to counter the Taliban onslaught has also risked the US' Asia policy and its attempt at securing a preeminent position in the subcontinent.

In a conflict situation, Afghanistan provides enormous scope for a regional as well as global actor to proliferate its strategic presence, especially in this scenario the US and China. While China has backed Pakistan and its strategy of expanding its strategic footing in Afghanistan, India has shown strategic neutrality doling out developmental support to Afghanistan.

It is of paramount importance for Trump, therefore, to infuse more consistency to his Afghan policy to ensure sustenance of the hegemony that US has enjoyed for better part of the decade in the face of a volatile China, especially when Xi has a master plan to reign for his entire life.

Taliban's demands

As the prospect for establishing peace in the region dims, the Taliban has made stronger demands to the global player to engage with them directly. This situation ups the ante for the regional player to partake in conversations and bring forth strategic solutions for the long drawn crisis in the region.

More than the loss of resources, Afghanistan has seen massive destruction of human lives, primarily civilians. Hence, the cost of peacebuilding sits heavily on the citizens as much as on the government.

It is prerogative at this juncture, therefore, to institute multilateral forums allowing actors to engage diversely that will aide state building in Afghanistan.

While Ashraf Ghani continues to be mired with domestic challenges, including allegations of unconstitutionally interfering in appointment to the higher institutional bodies, the neighbouring countries are tightening their grip to ensure steady involvement in the peaceful resolution of the Afghan conflict, especially India and China.

It is paramount for the global actors to engage progressively to establish peace in the region and specifically for Trump to secure better understanding of the regional dynamics at this juncture.

(The writer is a researcher at the Observer Research Foundation)