One of President Joe Biden’s top aides recently said that the United States has no alternative but to engage with Pakistan on the future of Afghanistan.
Thomas West appreciated Pakistan’s help in reaching a peace deal with the Taliban, but he also complained that Islamabad often rejected Washington’s advice, Pakistan’s most distributed daily, Dawn, reported.
At a discussion at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West, said there are “vast sums of experience in Pakistan’s system on these (Afghan) issues. And I believe we have no alternative but to engage with Pakistan in the future.”
In addition, the moderator, former US National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley, asked questions on the Taliban, on the TTP and its relationship with the Durand Line, as well as the disparities between Islamabad and Kabul’s new leadership.
Despite Pakistan’s support for the peace process, the reaction made it very clear.
In the months leading up to and throughout the negotiating process, “we were in very close contact with the leadership of Pakistan over initiatives that we pushed Pakistan to take to boost the possibilities for a negotiated settlement to the Afghan war,” West stated.
“There’s a good chance that things would be different now if Pakistan had taken some of those initiatives more seriously and consistently. I really believe it.”
USA’s response clearly tells that, despite Pakistan’s support for the peace process, the country did not always accept US ideas.
According to the source, West also made it apparent that Washington was frustrated by Islamabad’s reticence, although the two partners continued to back the Doha negotiations, which resulted in an agreement in 2020.
Works at The Truth International Magazine. My area of interest includes international relations, peace & conflict studies, qualitative & quantitative research in social sciences, and world politics. Reach@ [email protected]
