A seminar was held at Pakistan Study Centre University of Peshawar on 21 OCT 2016. The theme of the seminar was “Afghanistan after US Drawdown: Regional Ramification with Specific Emphasis on Pakistan”. The seminar was presided over by former Inspector general Frontier Corps and Corp Commander Peshawar Genral (Rtd) Mumtaz Gul.  It was attended by large number of students, MPhil/PhD scholars and faculty members of the centre.

Prof. Dr. Fakhr-ul-Islam, Director Pakistan Study Centre opened the seminar. He said that with the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, the region is faced with numerous challenges. The objective of the seminar was to enrich knowledge of students and scholars on the happenings.

  The key note speaker was Col (Rtd) Aziz Gul. His talk covered the areas like: Regional Security and Political Situation, Transitional Challenges, Afghan Future Prospects and Implications for Pakistan. He said that all stakeholders have come to understand that this unending war on both sides of the Durand line is futile, and will not achieve positive results other than greater suffering and devastation. Col Aziz Gul was of the view that the Taliban struggle and resistance has not weakened, and is likely to increase rapidly with the total withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. He said that Pakistan is at the cross roads, it is an ally and a major recipient of aid from the US on the other hand there is a strong anti-US resentment in Pakistan. Pakistan needs to have strong bonds with Afghanistan in keeping with its historical, religious, ethnic and economic realities. He said that we cannot afford to be an ally of US and Taliban at the same time and will have to take an early decision in the best interest of Pakistan.

 Former Dean of Social Sciences Peshawar University, Dr. Adnan Sarwar said that only two countries can solve Afghan entanglement and terrorism, they are Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said that Afghanistan has the right to establish bilateral relations with India but it should not be at the cost of Pakistan.

In his concluding remarks, former Inspector General Frontier Corps and Corp Commander Peshawar, Genral (Rtd) Mumtaz Gul said that National Action Plan needs to be implemented in letter and spirit. He said that unless reforms in FATA are introduced with support from people of the area, the dream of eradicating terrorism cannot be realized.

The speeches were followed by comments and questions asked by the participants.