American Harvest

American author Charles Glass in his book ‘Syria is Burning’, writes: “To America’s policymaking adolescents, the world is a plaything to abandon when it breaks up.”

Just ahead of Anthony Blinken’s recent visit to India and other parts of South Asia and the Middle East (not Pakistan), the United States asked India and Pakistan to work for a stable bilateral relationship. A key aspect of Blinken’s visit (from July 26 to 29) was to discuss various options for what was described as a “negotiated settlement” in Afghanistan. Besides other objectives, an important aspect of his agenda in visiting India was increasing Taliban control in Afghanistan. The United States strongly believed that the issues between India and Pakistan need to be worked out between themselves. The US was reportedly pleased to see that the ceasefire that came into effect on the Line of Control between India and Pakistan earlier this year had held. This motivated the US to continue its efforts in building a more stable relationship between the two countries. Blinken could certainly have found time to visit Pakistan as well. This would have encouraged Pakistan to respond more openly to any peace initiatives from India and Pakistan would have welcomed peace overtures, provided they were sincere.

Now it seems the US is more keen on engaging India to play a role in Afghanistan. But the fact is that Pakistan is Afghanistan’s immediate neighbour and the two countries share a long border. The biggest victim would be Pakistan in case of a civil war in Afghanistan. What happened to Pakistan after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 cannot be forgotten. Many Afghans simply headed for Pakistan. These over 3 million refugees brought with them a drug and Kalashnikov culture that hurts Pakistan to this day. They settled in cities on the borders like Peshawar and Quetta and other parts of Pakistan. Their ingress increased Pakistan’s population and they are now well-entrenched.

The US is leaving Afghanistan after 20 years. With nothing really concrete to show, it expects that all countries would have a shared interest in a stable and secure environment in the region. It is, however, talking to India about how the future situation in Afghanistan should be handled. The US did not worry about this in the two decades that it waged war in Afghanistan. It has now left Afghanistan in a ravaged state. The US/NATO war machine operated through Pakistani territory and now the US wants India to come forward to pick up the pieces. Hillary Clinton, the former US Secretary of State and First Lady, once said, ‘We have a history of moving in and out of Pakistan. The people we are fighting today, we funded 20 years ago. Let’s be careful about what we sow because we then will harvest…’

Syed Jawaid Iqbal
President & Editor in Chief