Related Resources

President of the Middle East Institute Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin first introduced the governor of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province and described the importance of the stability of Baluchistan to the US. Governor Ghani then began his remarks by critiquing the label “Global War on Terrorism.” He argued that it is too often used as a blanket term to describe domestically-focused acts of terrorism in places such as Bosnia, Ireland, Sri Lanka and the Basque region. Instead, he suggested the title “War on Global Terrorism,” which would differentiate between terrorists with global agendas and those with domestic designs. Governor Ghani emphasized that conflating the two has resulted in ineffective counterterrorism policies, specifically in Afghanistan.

In outlining Pakistan’s main counterterrorism objectives, Governor Ghani stressed that his country would not allow its territory to be used by global terrorist organizations and that it would also help prevent these groups from using Afghanistan as a base. Lastly, it would work to stabilize Afghanistan in order to defend Pakistan from the fallout of the 30-year-old Afghan conflict: religious extremism, the refugee crisis and narcotics.

Governor Ghani went on to dismiss claims that Pakistan is a main frontier of global terrorism. In the past, al-Qa‘ida had used Pakistan as a training ground for active combatants to participate in the Afghan Jihad against the Soviet occupation. According to Governor Ghani, Pakistani has since then largely dismantled this structure and reduced Bin Laden’s role to that of an inspirational icon.

Drawing upon Afghan history, Governor Ghani emphasized the need to reintroduce a meesaq-a-milli, a national contract established 250 years ago that unified the diverse ethnic groups in Afghanistan under the Durrani royal family. The 1979 Soviet invasion shattered this contract, however, resulting in the massacre of the royal family and the flight of other traditional elites to the West. Though traditionally subordinate in society, mullahs and religious scholars soon filled the power vacuum and have to this day enjoyed elite status. To stabilize the region, Governor Ghani stressed that a new meesaq-a-milli must be built within Afghanistan, around an acceptable power sharing formula that would provide political participation and autonomy for all ethnic groups.

Finally, using the metaphor of a broken bridge, Governor Ghani proposed a series of military and political strategies aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan. While military strategies — specifically intelligence operations as opposed to broad army sweeps — have served as a diversion off the broken path, he emphasized that only a political solution will bring the region back to the “political highway.” For example, Governor Ghani proposed that an estimated $3 billion dollars be provided to local farmers to encourage fruit orchard cultivation over a period of 5-6 years, in order to discourage opium cultivation. He underscored how Afghanistan’s narcotics industry has transformed the country into a war-dependant economy, where “narco-mafia” warlords actively seek to destabilize the state to their own benefit.

After offering final remarks, Governor Ghani took questions from the audience. Responding to a question about the increasingly close relationship between India and Afghanistan, Governor Ghani indicated that India’s role did not influence Pakistan’s view of the conflict and stressed the need to settle the Afghan issue through a political solution. He then refuted a question regarding the alleged divide between secular Baluchis and the Baluchi government in its war against Islamic extremism, arguing that increasingly powerful progressive parties in the Baluchi parliament have marginalized the religious and sub-nationalist parties.