By Shakeel Ahmad Ramay in The News, April 17, 2023
If anyone wants to understand Chinese philosophy of peace-building, China’s position paper on Afghanistan is an excellent document to read and analyze. It helps comprehend the philosophy behind the Global Security Initiative, which was presented by President Xi Jinping last year. Whole paper revolves around the importance of dialogue and development by sticking to principle of non-interference.
The position paper asks the world to join hands to assist Afghanistan avert humanitarian crisis and engage with it for meaningful dialogue to bring back peace in Afghanistan, region and beyond.
Analysis of the position paper highlights key five messages. First, it gives importance to non-interference in the internal matters of Afghanistan. It urges all the parties to respect sovereignty and independent choices of Afghanistan governance. Second, the paper does not waste time on blame game, rather focused on finding the solutions. Third, it keeps human at the centre of all proposed actions. Fourth, it emphasises simultaneous deployment of dialogue and development actions. Fifth, it reiterates the importance of coordination to tackle issues of terrorism, extremism and development.
It is an excellent proposal to bring back peace and development in Afghanistan. However, China needs to work at two levels – bilateral and multilateral – to cultivate an environment conducive to development. On the bilateral level, economy and youths should be top priority. Economic cooperation will help Afghanistan materialise the dream of peaceful and prosper Afghanistan.
For that purpose, China should focus on creation of economic and livelihood opportunities. To achieve this goal, China and Pakistan can join hands to extend CPEC to Afghanistan. It would be good starting point, which will turn Afghanistan into a hub of regional connectivity. It is also one of key objectives of position paper.
As stated, China welcomes Afghanistan’s participation in Belt and Road cooperation and supports its integration into regional economic cooperation and connectivity. That will transform Afghanistan from a land-locked country to a land-linked country. China reiterated same commitment in Samarkand.
Second, there should be specialised programmes for the youths. It is extremely important, as youths have the potential to spearhead construction or destruction of a nation. They have energy to overcome all challenges to pave the way for their destiny and future of their country.
Thus, China should launch programmes on 1) education and 2) skill development for the youths. China can establish sub-campus of skill development institutions in Afghanistan. Although, Afghanistan needs these institutions, rural areas there need the more. Xinjiang education centres can also play a role in building skills. China and Pakistan can join hands to pilot the programme in refugee camps in Pakistan as it is home to millions of Afghan refugees.
The successful execution of programme will help refugees go back and play a constructive role. Skilled people will further train youths in Afghanistan which will pave the way for inclusion of Afghanistan in BRI. It will also create huge respect for China among the youths.
Education should be selected as long-term programme. For that purpose, China can start a programme like 1000 school programme of Iraq.
For higher education, China can help Afghan universities moderniwse and create quality human capital. Investment in education will help China cultivate a friendly generation. Moreover, it will help dispel negative propaganda against it on sustainable basis. Besides, there is also a need to build life skills of Afghan youth.
To achieve the objective, China and Pakistan should join hands to build a tri-lateral forum for imparting life skill trainings. Inclusion of Pakistan will be helpful, as hundreds of thousands of young Afghans have been educated in Pakistan. It will empower youths and create a cadre of future leaders which understand importance of each other. They will also be torchbearer of regional connectivity.
However, China will have to avoid contracting NGOs for the skill development programmes. It has been observed that NGOs consume major chunk of resources in the name of administrative cost. They are also more concerned about their marketing. Thus, it is suggested China should directly engage with government institutes.
Private sector (business and industry) should be engaged on the following conditions. First, it must share resources and contribute financially. They should be doing it as part of CSR and must not make it business opportunity. Second, there should be contracts with companies for the placement of trained participants. It should be obligatory for them to hire certain number of trained individuals. Third, private sector should be engaged in groups. It will enhance efficiency of the programme and create job opportunities for the participants.
On the multilateral level, China should work to mobilise resources to help Afghanistan fight back extremism, separation and terrorism. For that purpose, it is suggested SCO contact group should be upgraded to Afghanistan Assistance Centre. Resources should be given to it to build capacity of Afghanistan. There should be specialised programmes for military, police, security agencies, legal department and civil bureaucracy on counter-terrorism, control of organised crimes, drugs etc. All the member countries of SCO should contribute to make the programmes successful.
In conclusion, no political strings should be attached with these interventions. Let the people of Afghanistan decide their future. It will help China cultivate status of dignified friend not master.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1061624-china-s-position-paper-on-afghanistan
