ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and the United States have agreed on carrot and stick policy for the Afghan Taliban as they aim to establish peace in Afghanistan, officials said.
Western media reports claimed Pakistan had detained a senior member of the Afghan Taliban – a significant step after Islamabad had released some Taliban leaders recently to please the Afghan government and woo the Afghan Taliban for talks.
Reports said Hafiz Mohibullah, religious affairs minister when the Taliban ran Afghanistan before the 2001 US-led invasion, was detained in Peshawar.
The reported detention came ahead of a visit to Pakistan by US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who is touring the region for meetings aimed at bringing an end to the 17-year war in Afghanistan.
Khalilzad had recently held a series of meetings with the Taliban’s political office in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asia Affairs Alice Wells are expected to discuss the future strategy today (January 16) with the Pakistani counterparts.
The US team will hold meetings with Pakistan’s civil and military leaders at the foreign office. They will discuss the developments in the Afghan peace process.
Senior officials at the foreign ministry told The Nation that the US had pressed Pakistan for carrot and stick policy towards the Afghan Taliban and Islamabad had reluctantly ‘agreed’ to the proposal but pledged to keep dialogue as the priority.
“The other party (Afghan Taliban) should know that talks are the only solution. If they stay away from talks, the US can react and we may also be not in a position to help,” said one official.
Another official said the ‘carrot and stick’ policy did not mean any big action against the Afghan Taliban. “It only means the US may also start setting conditions. We (Pakistan) also would be discouraged if any party walks away from talks,” he added.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said his government was striving to bring meaningful transformation in lives of people through socio-economic development and equitable distribution of resources.
Speaking to former US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter who called on him here, Imran Khan said regional security environment was inevitable to realise the economic agenda of his government.
Prime Minister Khan emphasised that Pakistan fully supported a political settlement in Afghanistan which was the only viable option to end this conflict. He reiterated the importance of strong Pakistan-US relationship based on mutual interest and trust.
Cameron Munter said Pakistan was an important country of the region and critical to US national security objectives. He said as a former diplomat and now as President of East West Institute, a prominent think tank, he continues to “advocate strong relationship between Pakistan and United States.”
Yesterday, Zalmay Khalilzad was in Kabul for meetings with President Ghani, Chief Executive Officer Abdullah, and political leaders to discuss the next steps in US efforts to support and facilitate an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process in Afghanistan, empowering the Afghan people to chart a shared course for their nation’s future. His arrival in Kabul follows stops in India, the United Arab Emirates, and China.
Khalilzad “continues to coordinate with the National Unity Government and other Afghan stakeholders to ensure an intra-Afghan peace process. The US goal is to promote dialogue among Afghans about how to end the conflict, and to encourage the parties to come together at the negotiating table to reach a political settlement in which every Afghan citizen enjoys equal rights and responsibilities under the rule of law,” said an official statement.
During his last trip in December, Khalilzad reiterated that the only solution to the conflict is for all parties to sit together and reach an agreement on the political future of Afghanistan with mutual respect and acceptance.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had hailed talks between the US and Taliban, saying Pakistan will continue to make efforts to restore peace in Afghanistan.
The foreign minister spoke about the marathon peace talks held recently between the Afghan Taliban and US officials at Abu Dhabi in an attempt to end the 17-year-old Afghan war.
Zalmay Khalilzad had led the US team. Officials of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates were also in attendance.