Trilateral Summit and its objectives

The trilateral summit comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran put a seal on the growing perception in the region that responsibility for managing affairs in the wake of the US/NATO forces’ extraction from Afghanistan rests on regional states.

The joint statement issued at the conclusion of the summit expressed bilateral exchanges among the neighboring countries.  The most divisive part of the statement was the resolve in principle that the soil of the three would not be used for interference in each other’s affairs.

Some analysts believe that the irony for Afghanistan is that this connotes Pakistan withdrawal of the safe havens and support of the military establishment for the Afghan Taliban operating from our territory against the US, NATO and Afghan forces across the border.

In their view, the implication for Iran is that Pakistan would stop Jundullah operating from Balochistan against the Iranian regime in its bordering areas. In theory, this viewpoint of not permitting our soil to be used against sovereign neighbors should be commended in letter and spirit.

For Pakistan, Jundullah may be an easier fact to overcome but whether our military establishment is prepared to go along with this principle vis-à-vis Afghanistan is uncertain. In that perspective, the trilateral aim of peace, stability, progress and cooperation may not accomplish all its targets.

The Pakistani civilian government has been supporting for an Afghan-led dialogue for peace process.

However, the unilateral efforts by the Americans to negotiate the Taliban directly, bypassing Pakistan and Afghanistan, forced the two to form their own strategy.

To fulfill the dream regional trade conduit, President Asif Ali Zardari wanted the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement to be extended to land-locked Central Asia.

Its geological location also promises benefits as an energy corridor, particularly if the TAPI gas pipeline can be built to ship Turkmenistan’s huge gas reserves to Pakistan, India and Afghanistan,.

It was the favorite project by the US and more acceptable option than the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. Conversely, the speedy work on Iran Pakistan gas pipeline project will not please Washington.

Zardari proposed Iran to hold trade through local currencies, as the latter is under increasing international sanctions led by the US for its suspected nuclear weapons programme.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Feb 18 2012. Filed under National, Opinion, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.