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Pakistan military backing conference to bring together Afghan opposition figures
Many of the people invited for the dialogue are now members of the Afghan opposition, or are seen as being close to India in the era before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan
New Delhi: Pakistan’s military establishment has thrown its weight behind a conference that seeks to bring together exiled Afghan politicians and rights activists, many of them once perceived as close to India, as part of efforts to build pressure on the Taliban set-up in Afghanistan, people familiar with the matter said.
Officially, the conference – described as a regional dialogue with the theme “Towards Unity and Trust” – is being organised by the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (Sassi) University, an Islamabad-based think tank and research institution. The two-day dialogue was scheduled to be held in the Pakistani capital during August 25-26 but was put off at the last minute to late September.
However, it is an open secret in Islamabad’s political and diplomatic circles that such an event would go ahead only with the clearance of Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment, especially since some of those invited have links to the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.
“Many of the people invited for the dialogue are now members of the Afghan opposition, or are seen as being close to India in the era before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan,” one of the people said. “Others have had links to parties and organisations that were part of the erstwhile Northern Alliance, which was backed by India and Russia in the 1990s.”
About 40 people – a mix of former ministers in previous Afghan governments, former members of the Wolesi Jirga or lower house of Parliament, women’s rights activists and journalists – have been invited for the conference.
Some prominent invitees include Habibur Rahman Hekmatyar, son of Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Fawzia Koofi, the first woman deputy speaker of Parliament and former peace negotiator with the Taliban, former ministers Mustafa Mastoor, Meerwais Nab, Idrees Zaman, Nargis Nehan and Masooma Khawari, former MPs Shinkai Karokhail, Khan Agha Rezayee and Sayma Khogyani, and Nasir Ahmad Andisha, the former envoy to the UN in Geneva.
The people said the conference is being widely seen as an effort by Pakistan’s military to pressure the Afghan Taliban, especially after the government in Islamabad joined hands with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Muslim World League to host a two-day conference on the theme of “Girls’ education in Muslim communities” in January.
Several speakers at the conference in January were critical of regimes and governments that deny education to girls – a clear nod towards the Taliban. Despite an invitation from the Pakistan government, the Taliban didn’t attend the meeting.
Sassi said in a statement that the rescheduling of the regional dialogue “Towards Unity and Trust” will provide time to make “this important event further in-depth and comprehensive”. The dialogue is expected to “define shared principles for stability, the rule of law, and elected government by the people”, the statement said.
However, the people cited above said opposition from the Afghan Taliban – especially after a recent visit to Kabul by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar – played a role in the event being put off till September.
