By APP
Washington : A top former US State Department official on South Asia has called for a comprehensive approach involving massive international development assistance to curbing extremism in Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions and proposed a new compact to address political, security and economic concerns of the two neighboring countries as a long-term solution.
Karl Inderfurth, the former assistant secretary of state for South Asia, also favored greater cooperative efforts with the new Pakistani government on integrating its tribal border areas into the South Asian nation’s mainstream system.
“Over the longer term, the region requires a new compact that addresses Afghanistan and Pakistan’s political, economic and security concerns and seeks to neutralize regional and great power rivalries,” he advocated on the eve of NATO Summit in Romania where 26-member alliance will try to find ways to reinforce security efforts in insurgency-hit Afghanistan.
To accomplish this, Inderfurth said the United Nations should convene a high-level international conference attended by all Afghanistan’s neighbors and other concerned major powers.
He suggested this task should be added to the agenda of the newly appointed high-level UN envoy for Afghanistan, Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide.
“The goal would be a multilateral accord that recognizes Afghanistan’s borders with Pakistan (the Durand Line of 1893 is still in dispute); pledges non-interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs; affirms that, like the Congress of Vienna accord for Switzerland, Afghanistan should be internationally accepted as a permanently neutral state; and establishes a comprehensive international regime to remove obstacles to the flow of trade across Afghanistan, the key to establishing a vibrant commercial network that would benefit the entire region,” the former official wrote in The Boston Globe.
Such an agreement, he added, would have another positive corollary – “it would provide the basis for the eventual withdrawal of US and NATO military forces from a stable and secure Afghanistan.”
The US, he urged, should help the new Pakistani government to enforce security in its border areas and then “provide substantial assistance (along with the European Union, the World Bank and other donors) to build up their economy and social infrastructure”.
Inderfurth subscribed to Pakistan’s ambassador, Mahmud Duranni’s emphasis on following a strategy including development, empowerment of the people and security efforts as “using force alone is not the answer.”