Senator Mushahid Hussain calls for UN Peace-keeping Forces to fill vacuum in Afghanistan

Lahore: Chairman Senate Defence Committee Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that the Afghanistan of today is entirely different than Afghanistan before September 11, 2001 and the presence of Afghanistan’s non-neighboring Muslim countries’ peacekeeping mission supported by the UN might fill the vacuum created there after the withdraw of US and NATO forces next year. He was addressing a conference on ‘ISAF withdrawal from Afghanistan: Bilateral partnership for peace and cooperation’ organized by South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA).

Senator Mushahid Hussain, while highlighting the emerging “New Regionalism”, further said the future of regional countries is based on co-existence and close cooperation with each other. He was of the view that all neighboring countries of Afghanistan including Pakistan, China, Iran and Central Asian states have strategic stakes there and the US-Iran agreement will have positive effect on the region.

He also termed the concept of ‘Strategic Depth’ outdated and emphasized that Afghanistan’s future lies in the hands of Afghan people and their elected government must be supported by everybody. “There must be consent between all regional countries that no one will let anyone; whether state agencies or non-state actors, to use their territory to organize covert operations or proxy wars against each other.” He said.

The senator hoped that Afghanistan can learn from example of Cambodia, where, after a bitter civil war, armed sections were merged in to one national army. “Such set-up could be beneficial for the stability and peace of Afghanistan with positive effects on whole region.” He concluded.