ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The senior journalist and analyst Agha Iqrar Haroon has said that it’s a decisive moment for Afghanistan to write their own destiny and now the onus on the ruling Taliban to ensure a secure environment in their war-torn Country and the entire region.
“Afghanistan has entered into a now or never phase for the first time,” he said while exclusively talking to the PTV News in the backdrop of the one-on-one meeting held between the Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the State Councilor and Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China Qin Gang in Islamabad on May 06, 2023.
The senior journalist said that the Taliban have to decide now whether they continue to adopt a regressive approach as they had been doing since 90s or opt an approach in vice-versa and engage with the world for a prosperous Afghanistan.
Afghan Iqrar Haroon was of the view that unless stability returns in Afghanistan, neither Pakistan will benefit from China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) nor China will reap the fruits of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The analyst said that Pakistan has continuously been seeking a guarantee since long that no turbulence occurs in Afghanistan; however, no encouraging sign has appeared as yet. He said that all exploiters have continuously been operating in Balochistan from Afghanistan though now no Indian-backed regime exists in Kabul on which we could pin blame as now there is a pro Pakistan and friendly government.
Further, he said that China is the sole Country in the world which has made a significant economic investment in Afghanistan when the latter has been left alone by the world. And in return, China just wants Taliban to assure that a peace and conducive environment prevails in this strategically important region for key stakeholders to carry out economic activities.
Emphasizing that the sole responsibility lies on the Afghan Taliban to ensure that exploiters don’t operate from their Country to sabotage peace in the region, Agha Iqrar Haroon however feared that as per his understanding developed after years of reporting in Afghanistan, it’s almost impossible for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) or any other militant outfit to operate in Afghanistan without the consent of the Taliban.
Afghan Iqrar Haroon said that now regional dynamics are being redefined, and at this most important juncture, the Afghan Taliban need to streamline their activities. He said that not only the Taliban need to alienate themselves from TTP etc but also, they have to review their relations with India, they have developed in the last one year.
The journalist remarked that India would never allow CPEC and BRI to succeed as being a component of the United States in the Indo-Pacific water, it remains adamant to hamper the routes of Chinese trade.
Yet the journalist expressed hope that the Afghan Taliban must have learnt now and would facilitate the establishment of economic linkages between South Asia and Central Asia as well as enable China to trade with Middle East and Africa through Gwadar. Though, he added, a few apprehensions yet remain there.
To a question about the future of CPEC, he said that the next six months would determine that whether the CPEC Vision 2025 would be accomplished or not. He hoped that China would now respond more aggressively in this regard as the Expressway – which connects China with Europe via Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan – that has to be linked with Afghanistan and Balochistan to utilize the Gwadar Port.
