Among deafening chants of resurgence, Pakistan seems to be getting increasingly embroiled in suicidal entanglements that it would be better to stay away from. Among several others, there are two prospects that require pragmatic and purposeful attention, which should be free from crass self-promotion.

Reports have emanated from various sources that Pakistan may be contributing troops to the international stabilisation force being assembled for Gaza. The 20-point Trump Gaza Plan envisages, among other objectives, an immediate ceasefire, exchange of prisoners including the remains of those killed, deployment of a multinational stabilisation force to secure and demilitarise Gaza, followed by a Gulf-funded reconstruction of the enclave as a terror-free economic zone.

When Gaza has been completely demilitarised under the supervision of independent monitors and it is ensured that it does not pose a threat to Israel, its security forces will withdraw in a phased manner, and the charge will be handed over to the international stabilisation force to oversee its security.

The peace deal is about legitimising Israel’s genocide. The countries that would get involved in implementing the process, one way or the other, will be convenient conduits to ensuring that. There is no mention of a Palestinian state in the document and no process outlined whereby the genocide committed by Israel lasting over two years will be accounted for, encompassing over 75,000 people killed, thousands maimed, an entire population rendered homeless and hospitals, schools and offices razed to the ground. This has been a brazen display of a sinister, premeditated, murderous pursuit of Israel, fully aided and abetted by the US.

Notwithstanding the ceasefire that has been put in place, its flagrant violations continue by a trigger-happy Israel, which is hell bent on obliterating the word Palestine from international memory. The Israeli killing spree continues unabated daily, but there is no check in place to stop it from doing so: the US is quiet, as is much of the Muslim world that helped make the deal possible.

Israel’s expansionist and genocidal designs have not been a secret. The same have intensified with time. Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran – virtually all countries of the region have been victims of Israeli expansionist aggression, which has now assumed barbaric genocidal proportions, as has been evidenced in the Gaza Strip. Since this spree has had the support of the US and part of the Western world, it has gone on unchecked, only expanding its operational repertoire in the process. It is the same expansionist and genocidal policy which has also been legitimised through the Abraham Accords.

Moaning over the complicity of the Muslim world, Lt-Gen (r) Asad Durrani has written thus in one of his recent papers, ‘Exhausting non-options’: “Gathering around Trump to put our seal on the fate of the Palestinians is a show of servility, hard to beat by any mafia alleging loyalty to the boss”. Truly, the capitulation of the Muslim world before the US diktat has left a nauseating feeling behind. We have plunged into a freefall, crossing all barriers of wisdom and sagacity. We are hurtling down as a token of our unwavering subservience to a cause that conflicts with the state’s founding principles.

Becoming part of the mechanism to keep a crooked deal in place by sending troops to join the peace force would be taking a step too far. With our history of fighting the Palestinians in Jordan in the past, we need to be extraordinarily cautious before venturing into a pitfall whose horrific consequences may surpass our worst appraisals.

There is no Palestinian state in this deal to protect, but there is a lot of notoriety that will come our way if we become part of this effort to liquidate what rightfully belongs to the people inhabiting the land. Since the times of the Quaid, we have been championing this cause at all bilateral, regional and international forums. What is that unknown compulsion that we need to violate its sanctity now?

Such a move becomes even more dangerous when there is an absence of national consensus on the matter. The nation stands united with the Palestinian cause and against a US-imposed deal as well as the steps that Pakistan may be envisaging to take – more specifically, a decision in the affirmative to join the proposed peace force, which will work under the command of the US and which will inevitably target Hamas to disarm it.

Instead of dividing a nation further, it would be advisable to take parliament and political leaders into confidence. Support of leaders who command the respect of the people of this country, and who can play a role in articulating their thoughts and sentiments effectively and productively, should be solicited. Taking a decision independent of using the available forums can cultivate more fault lines in an already chequered national landscape.

Closer to home, a crisis is brewing with Afghanistan. The parleys between the two countries, brokered by Turkiye and Qatar, had hit an impasse because Afghanistan is unwilling to commit anything in writing vis-a-vis its role in eliminating centres of terror which operate from its soil, mostly those of the TTP. Pakistan, on the other hand, has been rightly insistent that such an undertaking is the key prerequisite to move forward in averting terrorist activity filtering in from across the border.

While there is a need to address the outstanding issues dispassionately, the aggravating statements issued by officials of both countries further vitiated a tense situation. Let’s face the facts. This region has been embroiled in wars for a good part of the last half-century, with Afghanistan and Pakistan bearing the brunt of these upheavals, mostly because of pursuing a flawed and lopsided decision-making process. It is the aftermath of a sequence of conflicts that the two countries are contending with today. This will not go away by persisting with a relationship of acrimony and mistrust.

War is not a solution to this crisis. Peace will come only when the two sides tide over mutual antipathy and sit together to resolve their outstanding disputes. Having suffered the ravages of bloodshed, both Afghanistan and Pakistan should show unmitigated commitment to salvage the region from the prospect of another deadly conflict.

For Pakistan, political compulsions should not impact the making of its foreign policy. The need is to work for stability within to blend with carving pioneering pathways for cultivating relations with the outside world. Only such a policy will withstand the ravages of time.

The writer is a political and security strategist and the founder of the Regional Peace Institute. He is a former special assistant to former PM Imran Khan and heads the PTI’s policy think-tank. He tweets @RaoofHasan

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this piece are the writer’s own and don’t necessarily reflect Geo.tv’s editorial policy.

Originally published in The News