A joint statement issued at the end of Pakistan and Afghan foreign ministers meeting in Islamabad, in preparation for the new Pak-US-Afghanistan 'trilateral process' - to begin this month in Washington - shows that both the US and the Kabul government have come around to Pakistan's viewpoint.
As per the statement, both sides agreed on the creation and operationalisation of a two-tier joint body headed by the foreign ministers and deputy foreign minister/foreign secretary to support the peace and reconciliation process. A joint peace commission will include diplomatic, military and intelligence representatives from both countries, and the deputy chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council, which is headed by the erstwhile Northern Alliance president Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Pakistan took the initiative last year to use its influence with some important Taliban factions to resolve the conflict. Reports spoke of top military officials visiting Kabul and offering to bring the powerful Haqqani network aboard the negotiations that President Hamid Karzai had started. But things did not get far because of two reasons.
One was the American policy of reconciliation and reintegration, which was directed at winning over only 'reconcilable' Taliban and reintegrating them with the lure of economic incentives. Concurrently, it aimed to increase military pressure on the insurgents in order to negotiate from a position of strength. Hence the demand that Pakistan undertake military action in North Waziristan and the US desire to give India a significant role in Afghan affairs - something unacceptable to Pakistan.
Until recently, President Hamid Karzai tried to reach out to the insurgents, sidelining Pakistan deliberately. His efforts failed to achieve the desired results. There is realisation now in both Kabul and Washington that Pakistan holds the key to a negotiated settlement. The start of a 'trilateral process' in the upcoming talks in Washington is a clear recognition of that reality.
That Pakistan has a major stake in the ongoing negotiations is more than obvious. It is unlike any other neighbour of Afghanistan, which is plain from the devastating spillover effect it has had to deal with, and the fact that more than 100,000 Pakistani soldiers are deployed along the Afghan border. They offer a high level of co-operation to the US-led Nato forces on the other side. Some of the hard-line Afghan factions are believed to have sanctuaries in the Pakistani tribal areas because they share ethnic, and in many instances, blood ties with the local Pushtoon tribes.
During recent months, there have been more war-related casualties in Pakistan than in Afghanistan. Which is why a growing body of public opinion holds that while it is in Pakistan's own interest to stamp out extremists, who perpetrate violence all over the country, this will be possible only when the war in Afghanistan comes to an end. It is only but fair for Islamabad to want to have a 'friendly' government in the post-war Afghanistan.