The U.S. and Afghan governments believe that any Afghan peace process should be Afghan-led. But over the past few months both have also had some differences with regard to the of initial meetings to kickstart an Afghan peace process.
The U.S. recently expressed displeasure over opposition to the role of U.S. Special envoy by Kabul’s National Security Advisor. President Ashraf Ghani has objected to being left out of the peace exploration talks involving Afghan Taliban.The Taliban have refused to hold direct talks with Kabul government.
But on Thursday, another Twitter spat happened. This time between Pakistan and the United States, the two major players leading effort toward an Afghanistan reconciliation process that as per President Donald Trump’s priority my bring an end to the longest U.S. war to an end. All three countries have in their official statements expressed desire for Afghan peace. Pakistan has helped with pushing the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table. The U.S. has acknowledged that. But Kabul is sensitive to any suggestion of foreign interference on the issue.
The U.S. and Pakistan have been working closely and Zalmay Khalilzad, the Special Envoy is due to visit Pakistan for another round of consultations on progress toward pushing the peace talks.
It started with PM Imran Khan’s reportedly favoring the idea of Kabul having an interim government to facilitate the peace process.
Some aspects of #cricket apply well in diplomacy, some do not. @ImranKhanPTI, important to resist temptation to ball-tamper with the #Afghanistan peace process and its internal affairs. #AfgPeace
— John R. Bass (@USAmbKabul) March 27, 2019
The Ghani government recalled its envoy to register it protest against the reported suggestion, which the Pakistani Foreign Ministry later clarified was misinterpreted as PM Khan was referring to the kind of interim arrangement that Pakistan has before elections. Afghanistan will have elections in a few months.
But then the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan John R. Bass wrote a Twitter message, suggesting that the Pakistani Minister Khan, a former cricket great, was tampering with the ball by suggesting an interim setup in Afghanistan.
Close aides and cabinet members of Imran Khan government reacted furiously to Bass’s idea.
Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, in her combative style, called the American diplomat as “little pygmy.”
Clearly you little pygmy your knowledge of ball tampering is as void as your understanding of Afghanistan and the region! Clearly in your case ignorance is certainly not bliss! Another sign of Trumpian mischief a la Khalilzad style! https://t.co/ZOySvWJNDq
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) March 27, 2019
Pakistani analysts also questioned the rationale behind the tweet.
The episodes represent difficulties in the way of approaching the difficult question of Afghan reconciliation.
Both the U.S. and Pakistan face a much larger question –Afghan peace and stability. Analysts believe the two countries should immediately should fix this exchange of tweets – seen by many as undiplomatic – and focus on the goal of Afghan peace and stability.
