The six-nation Speakers Conference on "The Challenges of Terrorism and Inter-Regional Connectivity" hosted by Pakistan concluded on Sunday issuing a 29-point declaration that emphasizes partnership for regional peace and development through greater cooperation and connectivity. Since the conference was held in the wake of US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israeli - a move that can only contribute to further instability in the wider region - the declaration also vociferously rejected "all unilateral and extra-territorial laws and judicial verdicts by any country against another state, which are in contradiction to international laws, United Nations charter and violate sovereignty and independence of states."
To state the obvious, regional connectivity and development are conditional on peace in Afghanistan. Of which so far there is no sign. In fact, during the last few months terrorist violence has spiked claiming scores of lives in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. The day the conference participants were deliberating on the subject, three FC personnel were martyred in Ghulam Khan area of North Waziristan when an IED planted by terrorists hit their vehicle. The same day, a suicide bomber claimed at least ten lives in Kabul. The two countries need to address each other's concerns and work together to fight the common enemy. Unfortunately, however, the Unity Government in Kabul lacks the unity necessary to make decisions. For that it looks toward the US, which has its own interests in the region to pursue. As President Trump told his Afghan counterpart in a meeting they had on the sidelines of last September's UN General Assembly session, the war against terrorism is only one of the reasons the US is in Afghanistan, thereby confirming the belief that the US is in that country for a long stay. If after 16 years of fighting it has failed to win the war from the Taliban it cannot win it now, only prolong the stalemate and chaos in which various violent extremists, like the IS, thrive undermining the region's peace and stability.
Like all such conflicts, the one in Afghanistan will ultimately be settled at the negotiating table. Although Washington too says it needs to be resolved through negotiations and that the Afghan Taliban should share the government in Kabul, it lacks seriousness to achieve that objective. The Taliban's Qatar office opened by the previous administration for holding talks with them has been closed. The attempt last October to revive the moribund Quadrilateral Coordination Group - comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan, the US, and China - set up to find a political solution to the conflict, did not go very far. The reason is evident from what Trump had to tell Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The six countries that participated in the Speakers' Conference - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Russia and China - have to work harder to bring back peace in the region. The ongoing efforts by Russia and China to end the ceaseless conflict in Afghanistan can succeed only with sincere cooperation from the Kabul government as well as better understanding between Kabul and Islamabad.
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