The United States (US) special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad’s visit to Pakistan and briefing the top leadership indicates that Biden’s government still wants an endgame in Afghanistan. It is the manner of the withdrawal process that the Biden administration thinks is problematic. Reportedly, under the new roadmap developed by the new US regime, a “transitional peace government of Afghanistan” will conduct national elections in Afghanistan that can bring in a new inclusive government to ward off the looming civil war in Afghanistan.
The US government knows that it can only thwart the Taliban’s further territorial gains through a peace deal. It is worth noting that Biden’s government initially hinted at rolling back on Trump’s deal. But the rapidly changing ground reality has forced it to offer proposals to resume the stalled dialogue. All these changes in the US government’s tone and actions hint at its desperation to win the Taliban’s trust. The new strategy sounds good as it is also asking the Afghan government to take steps to reduce violence on its part. Experts, however, fear that it carries the potential of backtracking on vital progress made in the rights arena. Thus all the efforts made to ensure a stable and peaceful Afghanistan would go to waste.
Nevertheless, the devil lies in the details. It is yet to be seen if the US and its allies will even keep all the gains made so far as a central tenet in the bid to secure immediate peace. If rights are to be safeguarded, the road might be more long winded. The US needs to be objective in gauging the excesses of all the parties to the conflict. Moreover, the US must keep a base number of its troops along with those of NATO until all the Afghan groups reach a consensus. The US decision to pull out of Afghanistan before the parties sign a final agreement will spell disaster, not only in Afghanistan but the region too.
Source: https://nation.com.pk/10-Mar-2021/us-envoy-in-islamabad