Joint Exercise
Pakistan, Afghanistan and US forces

The POST, Sun, Apr,23, 2006.

Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema


It has become somewhat customary to hear critical voices emanating from Afghanistan stressing that Pakistan should do more. Despite the fact that it has been repeatedly pointed out that Pakistan is doing a lot in order to check the undesired infiltrators from Afghanistan and has been constantly engaged to flush out the militants, the noises are still periodically made from the Afghan side. It has also been continuously highlighted that the contributions of the Afghan and Americans are far below the expected level and frequently stressed that they need to do more in real terms rather than dwelling upon accusations.

The main difference appears to be that while Pakistan is contributing its share, it does not indulge in propagandist pursuits where as the joint contributions of both Afghans and the Americans is lot less but the critical noises are regular aired. Not only there are many Indian Consulates in Afghanistan whose primary task appears to be to make things difficult for Pakistan rather than performing the normal tasks of a Consulates. One need not to spell out the complexities and intricacies of the alleged weapons influx into Pakistani Baluchistan from Afghanistan or periodic troubles on the border or raising doubts about the settled border called Durand Line or to question the need for so many Indian Consulates on the Afghan soil in order to reflect Afghans inabilities to cope with the situation.

It is not too unrealistic to assume that Afghanistan is still far from attaining the desired level of stability. It needs all kinds of help and assistance to make it a stable neighbor. Not only many countries are providing economic assistance but many have already undertaken constructive projects in terms of building schools, hospitals, roads, bridges etc. In addition many countries have provided training facilities covering almost all walks of life. While the degree of assistance varies, the volume is indeed impressive.

Pakistan is one of the very few countries which are helping its Afghan neighbors in a rather big way. Apart from providing transit trade facilities, it has also a substantive bilateral trading relationships with Afghanistan. In addition Pakistan is still looking after more than two million refugees. Admittedly the government of Pakistan has been facilitating gradual repatriation of Afghan refugees; the recently published newspaper reports indicate that many of the repatriated refugees have again re-entered Pakistan. Clearly it reflects both the inability of the Afghan government to provide the necessary infra structure to settle them once again on the Afghan soil and dissatisfaction of the refugees to feel compelled to leave their homeland once again.

It is not too difficult to assess that the repatriation requires not just the monetary inputs but also the creation of an environment in which the returnees feel somewhat safe and satisfied. Given the ongoing activities and operations of the militants in Afghanistan, the Afghan government does need help. In this connection Pakistan has already stationed something like 80,000 troops along the border with a view to flush out the militants and plugs their undesired border crossings. In view of the porous nature of Pak-Afghan border, it is not an easy task. But then what needs to be highlighted here is that efforts of Pakistan army should be matched with similar kind of efforts from the other side rather than reflecting their inabilities in mere accusations.

Cognizant of the complexities of this particular border, a Tripartite Commission consisting of senior military and diplomats was established to sort out common problem that arise from time to time. The 16^th meeting of this Commission was recently held at Rawalpindi to discuss problems linked with border security. The representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan and US led NATO-ISAF participated.  Not only they reviewed the whole situation but also agreed to enhance communication and coordination specifically with regard to Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Until now the US-ISAF representatives were attending the meetings of the Commission in the capacity of observers but in recent meeting they have been elevated to the status of a member. Both NATO and ISAF forces are meant to assist the Afghan authorities in their legitimate security pursuits which automatically make them somewhat partisan. When it was decided to establish a Commission to look into border troubles which were caused either by the activities of militants, local war lords and the interested outsiders, the presence of third party was deemed as a useful honest broker. But the experience of the past few years have clearly indicated that US authorities have not played it strictly in accordance with the expected role of a honest broker.  

It needs to be stressed here that the timing of the meeting was extremely appropriate as both Afghanistan and Pakistan were engaged in accusative slinging match in the recent past. The media debate was not helping in terms of improving the overall environment. Many Pakistanis feel rather strongly about the increasing Indian influence over Afghanistan. They look with utmost suspicions the establishment of so many Indian Consulates in Afghanistan especially in absence of a convincing rationale for such openings.

The establishment of a Consulate is invariably deemed appropriate if either the country in question has massive trading interactions with that particular area where the Consulate has been established or a sizable number their own citizens inhabit that area. In case of Indian Consulate neither of these factors is applicable yet the Afghan government in its wisdom decided to allow the establishment of so many Indian Consulates. The newspaper reports frequently question and sometime even highlight their role in causing some form of trouble either on the border or inside Pakistan.

At the request of Pakistan it was decided to include the Afghan forces in the scheduled joint US-Pakistan military exercise. It is expected that the participation of the Afghan forces would enhance the cooperation and coordination at the Afghan border. If the exercise enhances the coordination level, the chances of success of the periodic operations against militants on this border would indeed be brightened. Besides the participation in the joint exercise would not only provide the Afghan national army the necessary experience in border patrolling and collaborative exercises but would also strengthen security relationships. The development of workable understanding between the two forces could be extremely useful for successful operations.

Joint military exercises invariably equip the involved forces with necessary coordinated efforts mechanism which can indeed be extremely useful when confronted with a common problem. As mentioned above the complex nature of Pak-Afghan border makes it imperative for both to work out joint strategies for operational purposes. It is of course expected that at some future date the NATO-ISAF forces would leave the area and the border would have to be patrolled by the Pak-Afghan forces on their respective sides.

The presence of NATO-ISAF representatives is indeed useful not just because of their experiences is similar situations but new techniques of communications and coordination could be helpful in making this border peaceful. In view of the existing complications especially the presence and activities of large number of militants on both sides of the border it is somewhat imperative that we learn to how to effectively coordinate efforts and quickly share information.

The writer works for Islamabad Policy Research Institute.