Pakistan asked to rein in terror at the Heart of Asia Conference

The two day long sixth Heart of Asia- Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) conference concluded in Amritsar yesterday. Chaired and co-chaired by India and Afghanistan respectively, the conference was a stupendous success in terms of the hassles it eloquently identified. HoA-IP was instituted in 2011 at Istanbul to evolve all mechanisms for restoring peace and security in Afghanistan through political and economic cooperation. Stability in Afghanistan is crucial for prosperity and economic development of the its extended neighborhood which includes- South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia. The Istanbul Process was aptly named as Heart of Asia to seek solutions for revival of Afghanistan which was devastated by war. Since then, over 22 supporting countries including US participate in the process held annually. In the earlier conferences organized at Istanbul, Kabul, Almaty, Beijing, Islamabad nations tried to evolve various mechanisms that can mitigate threats faced by Afghanistan which include- counterterrorism, narcotic trade, poverty, and radicalization. Despite the Herculean efforts of supporting countries, in the form of economic aid, military funding, peace remains elusive since Afghanistan is plagued by terrorism.

Unlike recently held BRICS conference where Indian efforts to castigate perpetrators of terror were bulldozed by “elephant in the room”, at HoA-IP, India played a perfect host, allowing Afghanistan to do the hard talk. Mincing no words, in his hard-hitting speech, President Ashraf Ghani lambasted Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups and indicated that Taliban insurgency wouldn’t survive for even a month if Pakistan blocks financial conduits.  Ever since Ghani assumed charge in 2014, he single-mindedly focused on improving relations with immediate neighbor Pakistan to contain Taliban. But Afghanistan had no respite from burgeoning incidents of violence. On the contrary emboldened Taliban gained more ground. Like Afghanistan India has been victim of Pakistan’s cross border terrorism.

In response to the offer of $500 million from Pakistan as financial assistance, Ghani lashed out Pakistan for fomenting an “undeclared war””. He startled the gathering by asking defacto foreign minister Sartaz Aziz, “this fund, Mr. Aziz could very well be used for containing extremism because without peace any amount of assistance will not meet the needs of our people”. Pakistan quickly rejected the blame and added, “The security situation in Afghanistan is very complex. It is simplistic to blame only one country for the surge in violence. We need to have an objective and holistic view”. Ghani’s unequivocal remarks not only exposed the duplicity of Pakistan but added heft to India’s repeated plaints on cross border terrorism.

The significant outcome of the HoA-IP is the “Amritsar Declaration” which recognized terrorism as the biggest threat for the regional security and peace and sought early finalization of the draft of CCIT (Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism). The declaration welcomed the agreement between the International Community and Afghanistan National and Defense Security Forces (ANDSF) for continued financial assistance till 2020. It expressed concerned about the “high level of violence caused by the Taliban, terrorist groups including ISIL/Daesh and its affiliates, the Haqqani network, Al Qaeda, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkestan Islamic Movement, Laskhar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Jundullah and other foreign terrorists. In this regard, we call upon all states to take action against these terrorist entities in accordance with their respective national counter terrorism policies, their international obligation and the UN Global Terrorism Strategy 2006”. The Inter-Ministerial conference comprising of delegation of 44 countries called “for concerted regional and international cooperation to ensure elimination of terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, including dismantling of terror sanctuaries and safe havens in the Heart of Asia region, as well as disrupting all financial, tactical and logistical support for terrorism”. While Prime Minister Modi and President Ashraf Ghani upped the ante against terrorism, unconditional support of participating nations and observer countries paved way for evolving a strategic approach towards rebuilding of Afghanistan. Further the declaration thanked Iran and Pakistan for hosting Afghan refugees for over the past three decades. The meet urged the countries to extend the hospitality until their sustainable repatriation and reintegration can take place. HoA-IP has also tried to address the issues emanating from the increased cultivation of poppy along the Southern Afghanistan which is prospering under the ambit of the terror groups. This cultivation has soon emerged as the chief source of finances for the terrorist network operating from Pakistan.

It is an open secret that Pakistan has been raising terror sanctuaries against India and Afghanistan till now. While Pakistan’s foreign policy of bleed India by thousand cuts is well-known, Islamabad is equally intolerant to the idea of stable and peaceful Afghanistan. Pakistan’s insecurities towards Afghanistan stem from the fact that Kabul doesn’t recognize the international border- Durand Line with Pakistan. In 1893, to reduce frequent incursions into each other’s region British foreign secretary Henry Mortimer Durand and Amir Abdul Rahman Khan formally agreed on a demarcating 2640 km long international border. The line ran through Pashtun territories. But Afghanistan never ratified the document and even Pashtuns who wanted to create Pashtunistan too opposed the Durand line. While Afghanistan reclaimed most of the Pashtun areas under British India through 1919 Anglo-Afghan war, after British left India, Afghanistan openly declared that it doesn’t recognize Durand line. Afghanistan has thus claims to region from Durand line to Indus river. Since 1947 Pakistan has tried to seal bilateral agreement to convert Durand line into international border, but no avail. Moreover, Pakistan has been wary of a long and enduring relationship between India and Afghanistan as that might render its geostrategic positioning ineffective. By denying free passage of goods through its territory for long Pakistan had tried to hinder the bilateral trade between India and Afghanistan. Now that Modi and Ghani had agreed on developing a joint air corridor, both countries can nail down the obstructionist policies of Pakistan and enhance bilateral trade. Thus India, can enhance its connectivity to Central Asia and European Countries.

Modi’s assertive and dynamic foreign policy towards Afghanistan have indeed irked Pakistan. A slew of developments in the past two years had laid firm foundation for nurturing of bilateral ties. These included-Modi’s visit to Kabul to inaugurate the Parliament Complex built by India, delivery of three Mi-24 gunships, signing of the trilateral transit agreement for development of Chabahar port to increase connectivity of land-locked Afghanistan, opening of Salma Dam, $1 billion economic assistance and finally supply of four attack of helicopters. India openly embraced Afghanistan and made no qualms in deepening ties with Afghanistan. This strategic shift in India’s policy towards Afghanistan tapped into the betrayal and frustration suffered by Kabul at the hands of Pakistan. President Ghani immediately reciprocated India’s no-strings attached policy and firmly supported India’s stance of not attending the SAARC summit. By and large, in this edition of HoA, India besides cogently garnering support of all participating countries for rebuilding of Afghanistan, strengthened its ties with Afghanistan.

Despite escalating hostilities with Pakistan, India didn’t sidestep the agenda of HoA and deftly managed to call for international support for extricating the roots of terror in the region. While the media in India and Pakistan widely anticipated resumption of talks, India didn’t budge from its position of terror and talks can’t go together. Though the media is abuzz with a photograph of an animated discussion between Ajit Doval and Sartaz Aziz, both sides dismissed reports of any formal conversation.

While over 44 participating countries have affirmed support to Amritsar Declaration that categorically denounced Pakistan for sheltering terror groups, Islamabad found a rare ally in Russia. Russian envoy Zamir Kabulov remarked that, “I’m sure President Ghani has strong reasons to do so, but I don’t think the HoA is the right place for settling scores”. Russia, by playing a referee at HoA signaled a paradigm shift in Indo-Russian Strategic partnership and reflected Moscow’s Sino-centric dalliance. However, India shouldn’t be flustered by emerging strategic realignments and steadfastly continue to engage with Afghanistan to circumvent the Pakistan’s overtures.

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