Talking to the Taliban

THE Moscow round of talks, although the latest addition to a round-the-year shifting caravan of international conferences on Afghanistan, has had the most promising start of them all. Not a single invitee cried off. Nearly all of them were neighbours and so had a direct stake in a stable Afghanistan. Those that had reservations found ways to work around the limitations. The Afghan government found it difficult to attend because it insists that it should lead the talks with Taliban. Besides it had to be mindful of some rightwing American concerns. For India, the Taliban is a proscribed organisation and hence sitting at the same table posed a dilemma. Both instead opted for ‘unofficial’ delegations but headed by heavyweights to convey the gravity they attach to the Moscow meet.  

More than India and Afghanistan working their way around, the surprise is Russia’s return to the centre-stage nearly four decades after its military was driven out over the Pamirs. From Syria to Afghanistan, US President Donald Trump’s capriciousness towards steady allies is forcing a hunt for alternatives. And Russia, goose-stepping with regional allies, has used the breach. The Moscow meet is also part of that piece. All invitees, bar two, are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. All of them with no exception share the existentialist fear of Afghanistan again becoming a breeding ground for pan-regional political Islamists.

The Moscow meet provides more than a glimmer of hope because Washington has not yet acted as a spoiler. Still there is a long distance to travel. The Taliban says this is not a formal dialogue for peace, even the hosts have the limited aim of creating conditions for direct talks and influential countries such as Saudi Arabia are still out of the mix. However, success will be assured only if external players resist the temptation of taking ownership of the process. Their end goal ought to be to ensure that the sense of ennui among Afghans does not turn the country into a bridgehead for the expansion of ISIS into South and Central Asia.