ABSTRACT
Pakistan’s role in bringing about an Afghan peace had been much of the time affected by a number of miscalculations and misperceptions. Throughout the Afghan war, Pakistan was indispensable to any efforts, political or militaiy, to bring the conflict to a close. Pakistan continued to play an influential role in events leading to the fall of the Kabul regime and in efforts to install an interim government of Afghan mujahidin. Pakistan’s two-track approach aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, so apparent during the years of Zia ul-Haq’s presidency, remained the controlling policy after his death in August 1988. Reasoning that the Afghan resistance was politically and militarily weak, Pakistan’s generals opposed early negotiations. At the core of Pakistan’s difficulties with the Afghan issue was the lack of a coherent set of policies externally and domestically. A growing international consensus on the need for an political settlement served the interests of those in the Pakistani leadership wishing to revise policies.
