On TAPI and Taliban New Statement

On TAPI and Taliban New Statement

December 14, 2015 was the landmark when the high officials from four countries including Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India attended in the ceremony held in Mary, Turkmenistan. It was the function that officially initiated the ground works of the TAPI project. Now the project’s work has been finished inside Turkmenistan’s territory and the next phase (ground work in Afghanistan) is started today. Though the project is beneficial for the all four countries but it seems more important for Afghanistan both economically and politically. In economic terms it would provide ample employment opportunities for the locals, generating revenue as transit fees for Afghan govement and providing cheap gas for industrial and domestic consumption. Politically the Afghan govement expects that the joint project could persuade the neighbour countries particularly easte one to retreat from its current policy and cooperate for political stability in Afghanistan.
What I want to emphasize here is the security of the project itself and it seems that was one of the fundamental issues for the projects which get delayed till 2015. If we go to the Taliban’s claim that they were the first who negotiated the project with Turkmenistan by bringing the Unocal and Bridas in 1994-5 then the project is postponed for 22 years because of security. Again if we consider the Taliban’s claim that they are who determine the faith of the project in the provinces of Afghanistan that the project flows then the question would arise that how the four countries particularly Turkmenistan being assured and convinced to go forward with the project?
It seems that in today’s Inteational Relations we are moving far away from the model of Westphalian state concentrating on the concept of sovereignty. Big or influential countries can undermine the sovereignty of the small ad weak countries that enshrined in the UN charter. Some days ago it was confirmed that the Chinese are negotiating with Baluch insurgencies in Baluchistan to guarantee the security of CPEC connecting Xinyang to Gwadar port in the Arabian Sea. Today we do hear that Turkmenistan had close negotiation with the head of Taliban office in Qatar Mr. Sher Mohammad Estanakzai over TAPI and even there is speculation that he was present in the project’s inauguration ceremony. Considering the benefit of the project for the beneficiaries in the region such move might be justified but is it not going to legitimize the terrorist organizations in the region and make difficult to tame them tomorrow?
The outcome of the Chinese negotiation has not printed out yet but the Turkmens’ efforts showing the success. The Taliban posted a statement in their website supporting the project and waing the govement of Afghanistan of further corruption failing the project. An investigative and critical analyst would raise certain questions that how come the Taliban who bomb the highway bridges, mining the roads, destroying schools and hospitals, kidnaping the teachers and engineers would suddenly shift their policy and announcing their support for the public property and public projects. Those analysts who follow the Taliban website would remember that Mullah Omar statements were getting posted through the network while already he was dead and no more alive. We do remember that Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mojahid was in Karachi while twitting by saying that he was in Afghanistan.
Through these incidence and many more we could come to the conclusion that the Taliban and its website is nothing just a puppet and a propaganda platform in the hand of our easte neighbour and controlled by its sinister intelligence agency. Since the Pakistan is a hunger of energy and already under great pressure after the announcement of Trump’s South Asia Strategy therefore covering its name and posts in the website on behalf of Taliban. I think whatever is going to be posted through Taliban website is the official announcement of our easte neighbour’s “deep state” policy and strategy. I hope the economic necessity of Pakistan and the US pressure work and we witness the new and prosperous country.

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