It almost seems as if the two combatants in what was not a very intense war seem to have become tired. The most potent symbol of the cost of the conflict can be seen in the logjam in the Afghan Transit Trade, with containers piling up at Karachi port, as well as rotting fruit and vegetables at crossing points on the land border, with traders claiming billions in daily losses. Qatar has stepped in, offering its services as mediator. Fresh from brokering the Israel-Hamas truce, it is now intervening in the Pakistan-Afghanistan confrontation. It has excellent contacts with the Taliban, having hosted their political office while they negotiated with the USA, as well as with Pakistan. It may well represent the intervention that US President Donald Trump offered when he met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit, for the closeness of Qatar and the USA is symbolized by Qatar hosting important US Centcom facilities in Doha.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are brotherly countries, religiously and ethnically, and the Taliban especially have close ties to Pakistan, which they used for safe haven even as they fought the USA. That said, it should be noted that the conflict has arisen because the Taliban are providing the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan safe havens which have allowed it to carry out operations in Pakistan, and destabilize two provinces. The problem is basic: while Pakistan follows national interests, the Taliban follow theology. That they do not consistently follow it is to be seen by the growth of their ties with India, which has taken an implacably hostile stance against Pakistan, symbolized by Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to New Delhi, when India agreed to reopen its mission in Kabul. What would be the purpose of the mission apart from activities against Pakistan, using the TTP and the Balochistan Liberation Army?
So long as Pakistan is the kind of state it is, it must realize that it has probably sent across the message that the Taliban must not support its enemies, that they must not feign innocence and say that terrorism is an internal problem of Pakistan’s. The Taliban are presuming too much on their ties with the Pakistani establishment, and must have realized by now that enough is enough. Talks are indeed the only way of settling matters, but the Taliban must realize, as they should have by now, that meaningful talks can only take place if the two sides realize that force will yield no results.
