Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, who is in the United States on a five-day visit, met the Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss matters relating to regional security and highlighted the need to resolve Kashmir issue, the military’s spokesman said.The director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lt Gen Asim Bajwa, informed through a series of tweets that General Raheel met John Kerry on Wednesday to talk about issues related to regional stability. Challenges related to Afghanistan and India, and the measures to solve them dominated the discussion between the two dignitaries, Bajwa said. Kerry acknowledged the contributions and the enormous sacrifices made by Pakistan in its fight against terrorism, the ISPR chief said. General Raheel is believed to have pointed out that trouble on Pakistan’s eastern border with India has also diverted attention from our attempts to deal with the Afghan situation; in this context the US has also been asked to help establish better ties with India. Indian intervention on Pakistani soil was also pointed out as a point of tension. It is uncertain if the US will be willing, or able, to act on these matters. But General Raheel is quite correct when he says there can be little hope of a successful dialogue with the Taliban without some stability in the region. The troubling fact is that in Afghanistan matters have worsened. The much feared split within the Taliban appears to have resulted in fighting between rival factions leading to the death of at least 80 persons in the southern province of Zabul early this month. It appears a breakaway faction has been created. Mullah Mansour, the man selected to take over from Mullah Omar, has been challenged by the nomination of the more extremist Mullah Rasul Akhund as the head of another faction of the militant group believed to be backed by the IS and also by Uzbek fighters. The clash between these two groups led to the deaths reported in the second week of November. The point to be made is that in the presence of rival factions, there can be little hope of a peaceful dialogue. We need a united Taliban entity if the Afghan government, supported by Pakistan, is to enter into any kind of agreement with them. The current set of problems appears to make this more difficult. General Raheel is correct then when he calls for a more stable Afghanistan so that it can move towards the peace it so badly needs.
pk.shafaqna.com
