This is apropos a Business Recorder news item “Islamabad has no favourites in Afghanistan: PM” carried by the newspaper yesterday. That the PM has articulated a highly informed perspective on the Afghanistan situation in the columns of America’s most influential newspaper, The Washington Post, through his article is a fact. According to him, for example, “We simply cannot afford this. We have already paid too heavy a price… . If Pakistan were to agree to host US bases, from which to bomb Afghanistan and an Afghan civil war ensued, Pakistan would be targeted for revenge by terrorists again… . Meanwhile, if the United States, with the most powerful military machine in history, couldn’t win the war from inside Afghanistan after 20 years, how would America do it from bases in our country?”

The prime minister appears to have sent his message across in a highly effective and meaningful manner. His argument that promoting economic connectivity and regional tirade is the key to lasting peace and security in Afghanistan is spot on. It is, however, quite unfortunate that the US has done little or nothing to improve the economic conditions for Afghan people.

NAQI ZAFAR (KARACHI)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021