Jalil Afridi
What a shame wh-en leader of a nation escapes his own country; altho-ugh Ashraf Ghani was never a leader but at least he was leader/president in the books. Now what? A new game is about to begin in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the region.
On one hand politics of hatred from Afghanistan side will certainly decrease towards Pakistan but the b-urden of friendship will ce-rtainly bring baggage inside Pakistan. And even China will have to learn respecting Muslim ethnicities.
China has already shown its support for Taliban regime in Afghanistan which will obviously make it easier for the neighboring countries to announce their official ties with Afghanis-tan as well and in exchange China will be in the position to achieve its economic goals. But only if security issue is guaranteed.
China does not have a lengthy border with Afghanistan and neither they share a common religion or ethnicity but Pakistan on the other hand have several things in common with Afghanistan and it will be those common grounds which the enemy will try to use to sabotage China’s economic goals.
In coming days, terrorists activities are expected to go up in Pakistan again and at the same time Taliban’s demands will also be increased. Last week in negotiations with Pakistan in Chaman border region, Taliban demanded that visa free policy be adopted for travelers between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Obviou-sly Pakistan denied the req-uest, but Taliban still have the issue in their minds. They also have in their mind issues like handing over of their Ambassador by Pakistan to the US.
For those who believe that Taliban in Afghanistan will be very friendly to Pakistan, are not aware of the ground realities. Pakis-tan does not enjoy leverage over Taliban like it use to. It is China and Russia who are make powerful in Afghanistan than Pakistan. And Taliban are also relying on China and Russia for their economic survival.
Pakhtun dominant political parties in Pakistan, such as ANP, JUI and PKMAP are also expected to be targeted in coming days, and it is because of their political roles in the past. Many Pakhtuns believe that their sufferings was because of these political parties and t-heir leadership. They beli-eve that these political parties used the Pakhtuns to m-ake money and to buy pr-operties abroad. And this is the reason why these political parties have decided to remain quiet and adopt a policy of watch and see.
Several terrorists groups are operating in Afghanistan and they are not under the clout of Taliban. They have their own bosses and their own financial networks. These groups will soon become active and their aim will solely to be to target Pakistan and the leadership of Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan needs to increase its security apparatus in days to come because India under President Modi is no mood to show leniency towards Muslims in general and Pakistan in particular.
The real deal is whether America will be able to crack the China-Russia friendship or whether China-Russia will be successful in creating their own world order for South and Central Asia.
The after election results in Afghanistan will bring more clarity to the chess board in the region. Altho-ugh Ghani could have been re-elected had he decided to create interim setup and if the elections were held. But now, new leadership must emerge and that leadership must be real Afghans who care about their country. Not like Ashraf Ghani, Hamdullah Mohib and Hanif Atmar who looted the country, made millions of dollars from the US and left the country they vowed to protect. The New Game begins in the region.
