The realisation is fast dawning upon the US allies fighting the war on terror in Afghanistan that despite having spent a huge amount of money in pursuit of the war, peace in Afghanistan would not come about. There is no denying that lasting peace could not be achieved at the point of a gun. Successive US commanders and NATO officials have publicly accepted that the war in Afghanistan could never be won. As a result, the allies, convinced that peace has to be negotiated with the Taliban who are a major stakeholder, have been pulling out their troops for quite some time past. Some of them have also asserted that reconciliation could not be realised without involving Pakistan. Some British members of parliament have expressed the view that an Afghan-led peace deal with the Taliban is needed to hold Afghanistan back from sliding into civil war. The defence select committee said the UK had a responsibility to "make Afghanistan work" after 2014. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC that nobody could say "with certainty what the future for Afghanistan" would be.

The situation demands that Pakistan launches a massive diplomatic effort to protect its interest in the post pullout period. It is in our interest that people of Afghanistan get an opportunity to decide their future. Therefore, the countries in the region must join hands to pave the way for a durable peace to take place in this war-devastated land.

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