Afghanistan’s Strategic Role In South-Central Asia – OpEd
South Asian geopolitics is a complex ball of thread and is spun with strings of conflict, reversals, and long-running confrontations. In such a complicated and sometimes contentious environment, the nature of both Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship is like a rare and deeply momentous constant.
Pakistan has proved that, through decades of political twists, external interference, and internal unrests even in Afghanistan itself, it has never lost its commitment and indeed remained the most ardent and last survived friend of Afghanistan. This alliance is not just an issue of convenience in the diplomatic circles, but an inherent legacy of the two intertwined in the same bedrock in history, culture, faith and geography which makes Pakistan to realize the need to not only consider a stable, unified and prosperous Afghanistan as a benefit of being neighbours, but as a strategic necessity of its own security and long term peace of the region.
History of relations between these two countries is multidimensional and deep. The geography of Afghanistan historically played the role of the key channel between the wealth of Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, this legacy led to a history of vigorous cultural dialogue, religious debate, and strong trade pipelines along the roads that currently run through modern-day Pakistan. This fundamental inter-dependency goes way beyond the realms of economics that goes right down to security and societal dynamics. The fates between the two countries are intertwined, and the wobbly conditions in one state inevitably run across their leaky frontier running 2,600 kilometres, the Durand Line, which, ironically, also unites people, denizens of the same religion (Islam) and deep-rooted ethnic connections (Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras). These are the families and tribal and ethnic affiliations that develop a human bond that is like no other, and the relationship between the two has changed to a relationship where the relationship evolved to that of interlocking societies. This natural social bond presents a solid basis towards people-to-people diplomacy, which usually remains intact even when political rhetoric fails.
Pakistan has no doubt about its strategic calculus in this situation, and a stable Afghanistan is directly linked to the decrease of cross-border crime, terrorism, and destabilizing effect of the influx by refugees. On the contrary, peace in Pakistan means that it opens critical trade routes, connectivity projects in the region and cross-border collaboration imperative in economic re-integration and development in Afghanistan. Therefore, its regional policy has always maintained that the peace process in Afghanistan should be Afghan dominated, and Afghan owned with endless support to dialogue and reconciliation. This is in sharp contrast with the usually flaky and contingent interests that extra-regional powers have in the region and the wider international arena. Pakistan has diligently courted positive relations with all governmental permutations in Kabul having in place its ideology of goodwill and mutual consideration to open the proverbial door with each change of government. Unfortunately, this good faith has occasionally been greeted with cynicism which often has been propagated based on external interests which aim at fostering division and failure in the achievement of maximum potential existing within this important bilateral relationship.
This is perhaps, the most concrete and ethical statement of the fact that Pakistan has been indeed committed to its nation like never before, when it comes to its contribution to humanity. Pakistan has kept more than four million Afghan refugees over 40 years now- one of the longest and largest exercises in hosting refugees in the history of the world. Afghan generations overall have sought shelter to receive education, healthcare, and livelihood, to find them in the territory of Pakistan. This determination was also highlighted by the recent exodus that happened after August 2021. As world promises to take in vulnerable Afghans remained unmet, Pakistan, which already had basic economic problems of its own, took in another mass of about one million people proving an understanding in compassion and burden-sharing wealthier countries could only shake their heads at. This was not a passive-reactive process but was a continuation of deeply rooted humanitarian ethos.
It is much more than a refugee supporting partnership of Pakistan. It has already invested heavily in Afghanistan future by providing high levels of development assistance: by building and expanding 153 schools and 48 satellite classes, 55 home-based girls schools, 13 early childhood centres serving the refugees in Pakistan as well as providing education to 57,000 children in refugee villages. More importantly, Pakistan has directly invested on the human capital of Afghanistan making available higher studies to more than 7,000 in Pakistani universities, provision of 4.500 new Allama Iqbal scholarships and it has helped more than 100,000 Afghans graduate in their Pakistani universities. A considerable number of these graduates have gone ahead to become the mainstays of professional and public service sectors in Afghanistan today. Moreover, Pakistan undertook massive investments in Afghanistan ranging between academic infrastructure, such as the Rehman Baba School & Hostel in Kabul, the Liaquat Ali Khan Engineering Faculty at Balkh University, the Allama Iqbal Faculty of Arts at Kabul University, the Sir Syed Faculty of Sciences at Nangarhar University, primary schools, vocational institutes, and in providing hundreds of thousands of school kits.
Taking care of major medical diplomacy initiatives such as the state of art 500 bed state hospital Jinnah Hospital in Kabul (USD 118.85 million), Nishtar Kidney Centre in Jalalabad, Naeb Aminullah Khan Hospital in Logar, Ambulance donation, mobile medical units and thousands of free eye surgeries. Such programs have relieved extreme suffering and gapped the weak health care system of Afghanistan.
Working on pieces of a crucial connectivity with such projects as 75 km Torkham-Jalalabad Road, internal roads in Jalalabad, delivery of road construction machinery, power generators, buses and trucks as a part of the public transport system and due to the further development of a feasibility study of vital rail links (Chaman-Spinboldak, Peshawar-Jalalabad). These developments will be critical towards the realisation of Afghanistan as a regional trading hub.
As a back-to-back actor, the Pakistani has consistently provided life-saving aid, when 88 aid convoys (756 trucks + 4 C-130 flights) containing 15,540 tons of aid (valued at Rs 2.7 billion) were dispatched under the Pak-Afghan Cooperation Forum in the past one year (Sep 2021-Sep 2022) alone, amounting to over USD 30 million in aid alone. This support remains constant, although the attention in the world is declining.
Instead, the smaller but worthwhile efforts such as donation of TV transmitters, security devices, development of water pumps, and restoration of such areas like the Kabul Zoo and Deh Mazang were used in a manner that would translate directly to the improvement of life and welfare of the people.
Pakistan has unique role in Afghanistan and its unrelenting partnership seems to be an oddity in the seemingly cynical world of international affairs where alliances change winds with changes in geopolitical dynamics. It is a pledge made in the shifting chamber of calculation of the realpolitik, but in the slow furnace of common history, common geography and common humanity. Having been the provider of shelter to millions on the run of conflict spanning throughout generations to constructions of hospitals, universities, roads, and other structures, Pakistan has given back to the world more than can be measured. It has maintained its stand with Afghan peace and stability even where it was not rewarded. Nevertheless, at the same time, there are still obstacles to overcome, and the way towards further cooperation will require further wisdom and mutual effort, the strength and solidity of the Pakistani cooperation are undeniable.
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