ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States have agreed to work together for an early resumption of the stalled Afghan reconciliation process.

The understanding was reached during the recently concluded visit of Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif to the United States where he held extensive discussions with key figures of the Obama administration, including Vice President Joe Biden.

“There is a sort of agreement that there is a need to move on the Afghan reconciliation thing very quickly depending on the conditions,” a senior diplomatic source, who had been briefed on the trip, told Dawn in a background briefing on Saturday.

Afghanistan was the focus of Gen Sharif’s visit, during which he also discussed Pakistan’s strained ties with India, military cooperation, strategic (nuclear) issues and other regional matters.

“The general quite candidly conveyed his views on the issue, both the political and the strategic perspective, to his interlocutors,” the source said.

Gen Sharif is believed to have communicated Pakistan’s fears in accepting the facilitation role that it is expected to play for reviving the process. The Pakistani side is primarily concerned about the Afghan security establishment thwarting a renewed process.

Military spokesman Lt Gen Asim Bajwa, too, had in one of his tweets on the army chief’s visit said that “requirement of conducive environment for re-initiating Afghan peace process” was emphasised.

At least three major initiatives – the first attempt in February to kick-start the reconciliation process, the ISI-NDS (the Afghan intelligence agency) cooperation agreement in May, and the reconciliation process itself –, Pakistanis believe, failed because of conspiracies hatched by elements in Afghanistan, who are opposed to a political settlement with the Taliban.

The two sides (Pakistan and US), however, have not set any timeframe for getting back on track the talks process, which was disrupted after the Afghan intelligence leaked the news about the death of Mullah Omar days before Islamabad was set to host the second round of reconciliation dialogue.

Bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan also got strained because of the suspension of the peace dialogue and the accompanying increase in violence. Resultantly the relationship, which had undergone a major transformation earlier in the year, once again slipped back into compulsive mistrust of each other.

“It would have been imprudent to set the timeframe without getting the Afghan government and China on board,” the source explained. China, it should be recalled, has been lately playing a proactive role in Afghanistan and participated in the first round of talks on July 7 as an observer along with the US.

However, the source said it was expected that a “lot of ground would be covered during the Heart of Asia Conference”, which Pakistan is co-hosting with Afghanistan on Dec 7-8. It is speculated that President Ashraf Ghani would visit Islamabad on this occasion.

Chinese Special Envoy on Afghanistan Ambassador Deng Xijun, who visited Pakistan last week, too had offered to facilitate the Afghan dialogue, provided other stakeholders agreed to the proposal.

A concerted diplomatic push for resumption of reconciliation process is clearly afoot.

While President Obama is too eager for a settlement of the Afghan imbroglio so that a violence-wrecked Afghanistan does not eclipse his legacy in office, Gen Sharif told the Americans that for him reconciliation process was essential for maximising the benefits of Zarb-i-Azb Operation.

The operation is flaunted by the military as a major success for having reduced incidents of terrorism in the country and to a great extent cleared North Waziristan, which till last year served as the operational headquarters of a number of terrorist groups, including the Haqqani network.

Although the military and the government have been domestically saying that the operation has cleared 89 per cent of North Waziristan, Gen Sharif told the Americans that about 20 per cent of the job was still left behind and that the army would move to complete it after the winter.

He acknowledged the US support for the operation in terms of military hardware and ammunition, the source noted.

CORRECTING THE NARRATIVE: The agreement for collaboration on the Afghan peace process may dominate the headlines, but, the source said, a bigger achievement of Gen Sharif’s visit was his successful attempt at addressing scepticism in Washington about Pakistan’s role in the fight against terror, particularly peace in Afghanistan.

The army chief’s meetings with Congressional committees are being attached a lot of importance because it is rather unprecedented for a military commander to interact with the Congress, which has largely been wary about Pakistan. Previous engagements by Pakistan military had mostly been with the executive branch.

“This interaction would positively help in projecting Pakistan as being serious in fighting extremism and terrorism; a serious partner in Afghanistan; and a responsible regional power trying to protect its national interest,” the source said, stressing that an acceptable and positive narrative of Pakistan in Washington was key for defence cooperation to move forward without a hitch.

Responding to a question about any defence agreements reached during the visit, the source explained that it was wrong to look at the trip from that aspect. The defence assistance, he underscored, was a continuing process.

Only over the past few months a military aid of about $1.3 billion had been delivered to Pakistan, he added.

Besides, Gen Sharif in his meetings with Congressional committees presented himself as a commander, who wanted to uphold civilian supremacy and strengthen democracy in the country.

“It was indeed a very smart thing on his part to tell the people in Congress,” the source commented.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2015