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‘Taliban pose no threat to US, NATO presence in Afghanistan’

* Saad says peaceful Afghanistan vital for Pakistan
* Says Pakistan should not support any community in Afghanistan

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: Former Pakistani Defence Attaché to Kabul Brigadier (r) Saad Muhammad said on Friday that there was no immediate strategic threat to the US and NATO presence in Afghanistan because of taliban movement in the Afghan provinces bordering Pakistan.

He was delivering a lecture on Afghanistan at the Peshawar University’s Area Study Centre for Russia, China and Central Asia. Former Peshawar University vice chancellor and ex-director of the ASC Professor Dr Muhammad Anwar Khan, Dr Sarfaraz Khan, Dr Zahid Anwar, Dr Shabbir Ahmad Khan and some students participated in the discussion.

Saad Muhammad concentrated on the period from 2003-06, the time when he served as a defence attaché in Kabul, and on several issues with particular reference to Afghanistan, US, NATO, taliban and Pakistan. It was his personal and shared opinion of participants that a peaceful Afghanistan was beneficial for Pakistan and that Pakistan should do away with the policy of appeasing either the Pushtoon or any other specific ethnic groups in Afghanistan for its better future in the region.

He said that if US-NATO forces left Afghanistan today, the Pushtoon taliban would occupy Kabul within a fortnight and could deal with the non-Pushtoon population so brutally that “Changez Khan’s reputation in history will be dwarfed”.

He also discussed the hatred between the Pushtoon and non-Pushtoon segments of Afghan society. He said the non-Pushtoon population was supportive of the foreign troops because of the fear of once again being under Pushtoon domination. He defined the non-Pushtoon support to the US-NATO forces as strategic public support which had confined Taliban movement to hardly eight Afghan provinces - overwhelmingly Pushtoon and bordering with Pakistan.

Saad Muhammad said the rich oil, gas and mineral deposits in the region and the need to contain China and Russia in the region were probably the two most significant reasons for the presence of US-NATO troops in Afghanistan.

In the same context, he said the People’s Republic of China and Russian Federation had adopted a “wait and see policy” vis-à-vis the US-NATO presence in Afghanistan because the US-NATO military operations against the Al-Qaeda and taliban went in favour of both the countries to a certain extent. He added that both countries feared Islamic extremism because of the Islamic Movement in Xingjian, China and the Chechen movement in Russia.

Turning towards Central Asian countries and Pakistan’s role there, he said Indians beyond estimations had penetrated Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. “The only Central Asian nation that can be worked out for Pakistan’s benefit and still out of Indian influence is Kazakhstan, and Pakistan should launch serious and concerted efforts to establish its economic ties with that nation,” he added.

Brig Saad was of the view that it was not possible for US-NATO forces to control Afghanistan’s militarily or fight for an indefinite period in future. The only solution, he said, was to enter into a dialogue process with various segments of Afghan society for stabilising Afghanistan.

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