Pakistan’s Bid to Become a Regional Peacemaker Is a Positive Step
By Frank F. Islam
Washington, DC
Pakistan, under the new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan, appears to be repositioning itself to be a regional peacemaker. This is a positive step in a region that has been conflict-torn for decades and where the divisive issues are compound and complex.
This repositioning began early in Prime Minister Khan’s tenure when he offered assistance to end the Yemen War. Earlier on, he also pledged to hold peace talks with arch-rival India and extended an olive branch to Delhi through the opening of the border for Sikh pilgrims. Most recently, the Khan administration has arranged negotiations between the United States and the Taliban to try to being their conflict to an end in Afghanistan. Each initiative furnishes evidence of Pakistan’s readiness to be a leader in pushing for peace in the region.
After a visit to Saudi Arabia in September, Mr Khan stated that he would try to get Iran and Saudi Arabia to work together to resolve the conflict in Yemen. In October, he announced that Pakistan is “acting as a conciliator” between Iran and Saudi Arabia to attempt to end the conflict.
Later, the Pakistani government contacted Iran and Yemen diplomats to discuss the peace initiative. In a meeting with the Ambassador of Yemen, Khan assured him that Pakistan was striving for an early resolution of the conflict, emphasizing that all parties must engage in dialogue. He called for opening channels of humanitarian assistance for the people suffering from famine in Yemen.
Pakistan’s role in the Yemen peace process has been that of a facilitator and interlocutor. Its strategy in mending its own relations with India has been much more direct and concrete.
Since assuming power in August, Prime Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly stressed the need for better ties with India. His government’s move to open the Kartarpur border crossing to allow Indian Sikhs to visit their holiest site on Pakistani soil can be seen as a serious attempt to normalize relations with India. Khan himself attended the inauguration ceremony held for a new road linking the Indian town of Dera Baba Nanak to the GurdwaraDarbarKartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.
Known as the “Kartarpur Corridor,” the road would allow visa-free travel of Sikh pilgrims to the gurdwara. The move has great religious significance for about 21 million Sikhs living in India and it could pave the way for better ties between Islamabad and New Delhi.
Likewise, Pakistan’s efforts to try to bring about a peaceful resolution of the war in Afghanistan could improve its relations with the United States. Those relations have been strained considerably by the Afghanistan war.
Pakistan has been working on improving them since Khan came into office. Things did not look promising in mid-November after President Trump declared that Pakistan was not “doing a damn thing” to help the US and the Prime Minister responded with a retaliatory tweet.
Then, things changed in the middle of December after Pakistan helped broker peace talks between the United States and the Taliban in the United Arab Emirates. The Taliban and the United States concluded those rounds of direct talks on December 18.
The US peace envoy, ZalmayKhalilzad, who had already held one round of talks with the Taliban delegation in November of this year, called this second round “productive.” After the meeting, the UAE government announced that another round of talks would be held in Abu Dhabi “to complete the Afghanistan reconciliation process.”
These interim results are all indicators of the progress made by Pakistan in its emerging role as a regional peacekeeper. As the old saying goes though “the race goes not to the swift, but to those who persevere.”
Pakistan has demonstrated that it is in the peacekeeping race. It now needs to show the staying power to see things through to a successful conclusion. This will not be easy because the differences between those involved are substantial and long-standing.
As US President John F Kennedy noted, “World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor – it requires only that they live together with mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement.” Pakistan is taking the lead in encouraging its neighbors to move beyond enmity, war and hostilities to search for a “just and peaceful settlement.”
If these efforts for peace are successful, they will benefit the countries and peoples affected in the region, and bring social and economic benefits to Pakistan as well. This is a noble goal and one worth pursuing. On the eve of the New Year, I say to Pakistan, “Well begun! Carry on!”
(Frank F. Islam is an entrepreneur and community leader based in Washington DC)
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