Did Pakistan Win the Afghanistan War?

[TomSea]

Did Pakistan Win the Afghanistan War?
Kunwar Khuldune Shahid

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo scrambled to Afghanistan last week in a bid to rescue the peace deal with the Afghan Taliban. A little over one month since the “historic deal” was signed in Doha, Washington is already feeling the need for a salvaging act. The United States’ latest bid to get the current Ashraf Ghani-led Afghan regime on board, and in turn address a major stumbling block, was the announcement of a $1 billion reduction in aid to Afghanistan.

Islamabad is almost as invested in these developments as Washington and the Taliban are. While the past month has been marred by COVID-19 spiraling into a pandemic, in turn prompting Pakistan to focus the majority of its attention on addressing the escalating spread of the virus, the February 29 deal remains a milestone – and the basis for all of Islamabad’s post-coronavirus stratagems.

Indeed, the deal itself was viewed in Pakistan as a resounding triumph. The agreement, which seeks to put an end to an 18-year-old war rooted in the post 9/11 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, was facilitated by a regional strategy envisioned in Rawalpindi long before the September 2001 attacks.

Read more at: https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/did-pakistan-win-the-afghanistan-war/