Pakistan Prime Minister has warned that a hasty withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan would be unwise and that there are regional spoilers who are not committed to a peaceful Afghanistan as it would not be of benefit to them. 

In an opinion piece published in the Washington Post on Saturday, Khan wrote that it is time to plan for a post-war Afghanistan and for how the world can help with such a transition. 

“All those who have invested in the Afghan peace process should resist the temptation for setting unrealistic timelines. 

“A hasty international withdrawal from Afghanistan would be unwise. We should also guard against regional spoilers who are not invested in peace and see instability in Afghanistan as advantageous for their own geopolitical ends,” Khan wrote. 

He said Pakistan will continue to support the Afghan people in their quest for a unified, independent and sovereign Afghanistan that is at peace with itself and its neighbors but “Pakistan believes that peace negotiations should not be conducted under coercion and urges all parties to reduce violence.

“Just as the Afghan government has recognized the Taliban as a political reality, it is hoped that the Taliban would recognize the progress Afghanistan has made,” he said.

He stated that as with the US, Pakistan does not want Afghanistan to become a safe haven again for terrorists, but that “Pakistan continues to be the target of attacks launched by externally enabled terrorist groups based in Afghanistan.”

“These terrorist groups pose a clear and present danger to global peace. We hope the Afghan government will take measures to control ungoverned spaces inside its territory from where terrorist groups are able to plan and carry out attacks against the Afghan people, the international coalition forces stationed in Afghanistan, and other countries in the region, including Pakistan,” he said. 

According to Khan: “It is also time to start planning for the ‘day after’ – how can the world help a postwar Afghanistan transition to sustainable peace? How do we create conditions that will enable the millions of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, and other countries, to return to their homeland with dignity and honor?”

He also said the intra-Afghan negotiations are likely to be difficult, requiring patience and compromise from all sides and that progress could be slow and painstaking.

“There may even be the occasional deadlock, as Afghans work together for their future. At such times, we would do well to remember that a bloodless deadlock on the negotiating table is infinitely better than a bloody stalemate on the battlefield.”

He stated that the first step toward peace has been taken in Doha but not seeing through the Afghanistan peace process or abandoning it for any reason would be a great travesty.