With key players missing, an international conference on Afghanistan’s future in the German city of Bonn wasn’t expected to produce much. And the event lived up to its billing.

All that day-long brainstorming yielded was a commitment from the Western world to not abandon Afghanistan after Nato combat troops leave the country in 2014. But the sustained global support will be conditional to clear progress on “good governance” on the part of Kabul.

The Bonn conference convened on Monday to discuss Afghanistan’s future after Nato troops leave in 2014 pledged sustained support for another decade, assuring the Kabul government that “we will not let you meet the same fate as your predecessors met after the Soviet pullout”.
Participants, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, vowed to stand by Afghanistan as it struggles to establish security and stability.
“This renewed partnership between Afghanistan and the international community entails firm mutual commitments in the areas of governance, security, the peace process, economic and social development, and regional cooperation,” the conference’s conclusions said.
“The protection of civilians, strengthening the rule of law and the fight against corruption in all its forms remain key priorities.”
President Hamid Karzai told around 1,000 delegates that his government needed long-term international backing.
“We will need your steadfast support for at least another decade” after the troops pull out, he said.
The meeting came 10 years after another conference here put an interim Afghan government under President Karzai in place after US-led troops ousted the Taliban in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks.
However, Pakistan and the Taliban decided to stay away, dampening already modest hopes for real progress.
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 This is with reference to Britta Petersen’s article of December 6 titled “Bonn without Pakistan”. If Pakistan has not attended the Bonn Conference that is not the end of the world. Pakistan has been pushed into a corner by America. We have our own priorities and we do not want to be treated like tissue paper, only to be used by the Americans, and thrown into the dustbin (of history).

We are not going to kneel down any more, as enough damage has been done to Pakistan. I am sure that the writer must be aware of how Iran, North Korea and Venezuela and several other independent states are surviving fine without the help of US.

By taking dictation from the US government, the government and people of Pakistan have suffered a lot and we do not want to suffer any more. The government of Pakistan is going to announce its new terms and policy with the US and its allies.

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