On Thursday, December 10, 2020, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) held an online roundtable discussion on "Feasibility of an International Envoy and New Mandate for Ambassador Khalilzad". Omar Samad, former Afghan Ambassador to France and Canada; Gautam Mukhopadhaya, former Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan; Dr. Nazif Shahrani, professor of Anthropology, Indiana University, US; Dr. Michael Rubin, fellow at American Enterprise Institute; and Hameed Hakimi, research associate at Chatham House, were the speakers of the program. The event was moderated by Jyoti Malhotra, editor, National and Strategic Affairs, The Print, India.

Dr. Shahrani stated that terror can be rewarded and has its gains. This for large extend is the responsibility of the U.S. and ambassador Khalilzad who has been engaged in rewarding Taliban for terror. He added that there is a real chaos in Afghanistan, as there is no coherence among Afghan leaders in terms of their plans. He said that if Afghans are let to themselves, they will never be able to resolve this conflict and bring peace. He further mentioned that Khalilzad has been rewarded for failed interventions, but still the U.S. congress considers him given what he has achieved for Afghanistan. He said that Afghans are not willing that Khalilzad comes back and messes up with the future.

Mukhopadhaya said that the ceasefire comes at the end of this peace process, so it effectively legitimizes violence until a political settlement is reached. He mentioned that India can play a more active political role in Afghanistan. That is to helping Afghans to stay together, and that is the political role India can play. In Afghanistan, there is a sense of helplessness. The Afghan people see that their destiny is decided by outsiders at one hand, and by political leaders on the other, he said.

Omar Samad said that peace is the number one issue in the mind of Afghans. Instead of labeling each other, Afghans should focus on this issue of peace. He mentioned that Afghans want the intra-Afghan process to move on and to become more inclusive. He added that Afghans need to make sure Taliban understands that their destiny is at the hands of themselves. Also, he said that in the last decades of many interventions by outsiders in the intra-Afghan issues, the Afghans have lost their sense of ownership. The people need to work on this otherwise Taliban is going to impose their definition of ownership on them. He further explained that at this time, Afghans do not have much choice and what they can do is to move this process in a right direction.

Hameed Hakimi said that the key central problem of the Afghanistan government is its aid dependency. He added that in academic world, there is a tendency to portray Afghanistan as a tribal society which clearly the country has moved on from this structure. Besides, he stated that Afghanistan’s geography has had a societal impact, and there is a need for Afghans to have the space to reach to a consensus.

Dr. Michael Rubin said that the Taliban has been clear about what they want is an Islamic state. The U.S. tend to look at Taliban as a homogenous group when in reality Taliban is a heterogenous group. Therefore, the U.S. has fallen into a trap. He added that we have a situation in any conflict that the parties would be tested, and the Taliban have been testing the U.S. by conducting violence. The United States has not responded to this test as they have not shown their willingness to hold the Taliban accountable, and this simply encourages more violence.