US should not hurry military withdrawal from Afghanistan: Pakistan PM

Washington: Taliban is insisting that peace cannot prevail in Afghanistan unless the United States withdraws its military from Afghanistan. Pakistan, who supported the Taliban all through, also desired withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan. But the Pakistan stand seems to be wavering now after US President Donald Trump started preparations to recall the US military from Afghanistan. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in an article written for the popular US daily, The Washington Post, has claimed that a hurried US military withdrawal from Afghanistan will not be a wise move. The analysts from Pakistan are perplexed after the article was published.

The United States and Taliban agreed on a peace deal and military withdrawal on 29th February. The United States had agreed to the Taliban demand that the US military would be withdrawn from Afghanistan and had also announced that the talks were successful. US President Donald Trump announced only a week ago that there would be a phased withdrawal of the US military. The US defence department indicated that the US military withdrawal would start from October.

But Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said in his article published in the Washington Post that the United States should not withdraw its military in a hurry. Imran Khan has suggested that the US military withdrawal should not be scheduled until the time peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban are successful. The Pakistan Prime Minister claimed that real peace would prevail in Pakistan only if there is peace in Afghanistan. At the same time, Imran Khan criticised India, indirectly, saying that some countries that are not a part of the peace process, are using the instability in Afghanistan for their own political gains.

Imran Khan’s article was published while the Afghan Chief Executive Officer was on a visit to Pakistan. The Afghan military and the National Security Advisor had claimed that Pakistan military and the infamous Pakistani intelligence agency ISI are waiting for withdrawal of the US military from Afghanistan. Pakistan was conspiring to gain control over Afghanistan through the Taliban after the US military withdrawal. Saying that the way to win Kashmir from India goes through Afghanistan, the Pakistan military officials are presenting a plan to win Kashmir by using the Taliban. Against this background, some of the journalists and analysts from Pakistan itself are saying that the demand made by the Pakistan Prime Minister with the United States is strange. The analysts are asking why the Pakistan Prime Minister has started speaking this language.

The supplies to the US military pass through Pakistan. Therefore, after the military withdrawal, the United States will not have to depend on Pakistan. The Pakistani policymakers must have realised that this will completely finish Pakistan’s importance. Indications also are that Pakistan is grappled with the fear that if Afghanistan falls in the hands of the Taliban, there will be anarchy and this will also reflect in Pakistan. It is also being claimed that a specific class of people in Pakistan feel that if Taliban gains control over Afghanistan, extremism will increase in Afghanistan, and this will strengthen the extremists in Pakistan. It is apparent that, therefore, Pakistan wants the US military presence in Afghanistan.