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Express Tribune
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Afghanistan cracksdown on elements targeting Pakistan
Listen to article The interim Afghan government has taken a series of steps, including for the first time cracking down on elements that encouraged Afghan nationals to launch cross-border terrorist attacks – a significant development that has led to deeper engagement between Islamabad and Kabul. While much of the public focus over the past month remained on tensions between Pakistan and India, Islamabad and Kabul quietly worked to reset their troubled relationship during the same period. At the heart of the strained ties is the presence of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups posing a threat to Pakistan. For long, Pakistan failed to convince the Afghan Taliban to take decisive steps against terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil. However, for the first time, Pakistan observed a change in Kabul's approach when a Pakistani delegation, led by Special Envoy on Afghanistan Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq Khan, visited the Afghan capital in the third week of March and was briefed about steps Kabul had taken to stop cross-border terrorist attacks. A source privy to the closed-door discussions told The Express Tribune that for the first time since the Taliban took over in August 2021, Pakistan felt the interim government was serious about addressing its concerns. The source said the Pakistani delegation, which included military and intelligence officials, was convinced that this time the Taliban side meant business. Details were not revealed at the time, but sources have now confirmed that the Afghan Taliban began a crackdown on their nationals who had either joined the TTP or were planning to be part of the group. Sources said many Afghans, particularly those recruiting fellow nationals for the TTP, were jailed and proceeded against. In recent months, Afghan nationals were increasingly found involved in the TTP-sponsored terrorist attacks in Pakistan, something that rang alarm bells in Islamabad. Pakistan strongly protested and provided evidence to the Taliban government about the involvement of Afghan nationals in terror attacks. Sources said finally the Afghan Taliban swung into action, which not only led to a significant drop in suicide attacks in K-P but also helped improve ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan. All those developments paved the way for Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar to undertake a visit to Kabul on 19 April. This was the first visit by any Pakistani foreign minister to the Afghan capital in three years. Both sides during the visit had agreed on a number of steps, including a fresh Kabul assurance not to allow Afghan soil to be used against Pakistan. In return, Pakistan removed certain restrictions on Afghan trade, including doing away with the condition of bank guarantees for Afghan importers. The Taliban government won Pakistan's confidence after it apprehended certain Afghan nationals who facilitated over 70 terrorists, mostly Afghan, trying to infiltrate into Pakistan soon after the Pahalgam attack. However, Pakistan's timely action neutralised all of them at the border near North Waziristan in the biggest encounter with terrorists in a single day since Pakistan's war on terror after the 9/11 attacks. However, sources said Pakistan believes that the Afghan Taliban needed to take irreversible steps. "It is a positive start. We hope they (Taliban government) will continue on this path," said an official while requesting anonymity. It is believed that China, from behind the scenes, nudged both sides to stay engaged and resolve issues through dialogue. On May 21, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a previously unscheduled meeting of Pakistan and Afghanistan Foreign Ministers in Beijing. After the informal trilateral meeting, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Pakistan and Afghanistan expressed their willingness to upgrade their ties and, in principle, agreed to exchange ambassadors. A Pakistani official confirmed the decision and said the process would take some time since certain formalities needed to be fulfilled. The official defended Pakistan's move, saying many regional countries were contemplating upgrading ties with the Taliban government. China was the first country to send a full-time ambassador to Kabul and accept a full-time Taliban envoy in Beijing. It is believed that Russia and Turkey are also considering appointing full-time ambassadors in Kabul. The official said that despite many reservations, Pakistan had few options but to pursue a more pragmatic approach. The recent military escalation with India is also believed to have played a role in shaping Pakistan's policy towards Afghanistan. Given that tension with India is not going to ease anytime soon, Pakistan wants to ensure that there is no trouble at the western border. India is also trying to reach out to the Afghan Taliban, who were once seen as Pakistan's proxy in New Delhi. Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his Afghan counterpart recently, departing from New Delhi's over two-decade-long policy of not engaging with the Taliban. Observers believe that the recent Beijing trilateral meeting was China's message to India. At the same time, Beijing conveyed to the Taliban government that Afghanistan's interests were better served if they aligned themselves with China and Pakistan.
Japan Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
The Pakistan-Taliban divorce gets messy
The statement issued by Afghanistan's Taliban government denouncing the recent terrorist attack in the Indian resort of Pahalgam, in Jammu and Kashmir, was eye-opening. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveyed condolences to the families of the overwhelmingly Indian victims — 26 civilians — emphasizing that such attacks jeopardize regional security. The implicit rebuke of the terrorists' handlers in Pakistan has not gone unnoticed. This is hardly the first sign of the Taliban's growing estrangement from their erstwhile backers in Pakistan. In fact, by the end of last year, relations had deteriorated enough that Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Muhammad Sadiq Khan, headed to Kabul for talks with senior Taliban leaders, ostensibly to ease tensions. But while he was there, on Dec. 24, the Pakistan Air Force carried out strikes against alleged Pakistani Taliban — officially known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — targets in Afghanistan's Paktika province, killing 46 people. The strike was viewed as retribution for a Dec. 21 TTP attack that resulted in the deaths of 16 Pakistani soldiers. Three days later, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who leads Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations directorate, delivered a grim report: Some 383 officers and soldiers in Pakistan's security forces had lost their lives in counter-terrorism operations over the preceding year. He also claimed that approximately 925 terrorists, including members of the TTP, had been eliminated in around 60,000 intelligence-based operations. The TTP, he pointed out, had been targeting Pakistan and its citizens, while enjoying a safe haven in Afghanistan. The statement hung heavy with irony, given Pakistan's long history of providing logistical, military and moral support to both the Afghan Taliban and the associated Haqqani Network during their campaigns against the previous Afghan government and American forces, culminating in the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. What a difference a few years makes. (It is worth noting that India does not officially recognize the Taliban as representing the Afghan people.) On Dec. 28, the conflict escalated further with Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense announcing and claiming responsibility for attacks on multiple locations inside Pakistan in retaliation for the air strikes. Interestingly, the Afghan government refrained from explicitly acknowledging that it was targeting Pakistani territory, instead saying that attacks were being carried out beyond the 'hypothetical line,' a reference to the colonial-era border, known as the Durand Line, which no Afghan government has recognized. While things seem to have cooled off since then, the limits of Pakistan's influence over its former proxies are now starkly apparent. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency spent decades nurturing, sheltering, arming, training and financing the Taliban, which it used as a proxy of Pakistan's security establishment. Though the Pakistani military was aware of a certain intransigence among the Taliban, it consistently treated the group as a means of exerting control over Afghanistan and achieving 'strategic depth' against India. When the Afghan Taliban captured Kabul in August 2021, Pakistan celebrated with unconcealed glee. But as Dr. Frankenstein discovered, you cannot always control the monsters you create. For Pakistan, neither coercion nor diplomacy has proved effective. The problem is that Pakistan's military has been deemed insufficiently Islamist by the militants it has spawned. The TTP is now determined to do to Pakistan what its parent did to Afghanistan: take over the government and turn the country into an Islamist theocracy. And given their ideological affinities, the Afghan Taliban may well be helping the TTP pursue that goal. Pakistan's relationship with Afghanistan has become strategic quicksand. So deep is the quagmire that, under growing public pressure, segments of Pakistan's government have suggested turning to the United States for assistance and even offering drone bases to the US to target militants in Afghanistan. The idea that sophisticated US drones and other weapons might help Pakistan confront an insurgency born from its own anti-American policies in Afghanistan is absurd. And yet, it is no longer unthinkable. Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Asim Munir, embodies his country's strategic confusion. An Islamist ideologue himself, he has urged the Afghan regime not to prioritize the TTP over their 'long-standing and benevolent brother Islamic country.' But he also once stated, 'When it comes to the safety and security of every single Pakistani, the whole of Afghanistan can be damned.' The tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan extend beyond cross-border terrorism; they are rooted in competing territorial claims and clashing national identities. The Afghan Taliban's support for the TTP, coupled with persistent disputes over the Durand Line, stoke Pakistani fears of irredentism. The Pakistani government is withholding recognition of the Taliban-led regime in Kabul, while seeking tangible measures against the TTP, which continues to pose an existential threat to Pakistan's stability and to the dominance of its military establishment. Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions — rooted in historical grievances, fueled by misguided policies and compounded by ideological conflict — are rising fast, with Afghanistan now serving not as a strategic asset for Pakistan, but as a grave liability. India must wait and watch how this drama on its western flank plays out. Shashi Tharoor, an MP of the Indian National Congress, was re-elected to the Lok Sabha for a fourth successive term, representing Thiruvananthapuram.© Project Syndicate, 2025
Express Tribune
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Pakistan expects 'major shift' in Kabul's TTP policy
Listen to article Pakistan expects a "major shift" in Afghan Taliban's approach towards the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups after the authorities in Kabul briefed a Pakistani delegation on Wednesday about the "practical steps" taken to address Islamabad's concerns. A meeting of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) was held in Kabul to discuss critical security issues, including the TTP problem. This was the first JCC meeting in 15 months and came against the backdrop of strained ties between the two countries over the issue of the TTP. The Pakistani side was led by Special Envoy for Afghanistan Muhammad Sadiq Khan and the Afghan side was headed by its deputy defence minister Mullah Qayum Zakir. Senior military and security officials were part of the talks. Sources familiar with the closed-door talks in Kabul told The Express Tribune that the Pakistani side was briefed in detail about the number of steps the Afghan Taliban had taken to address the issue of terrorist sanctuaries. The sources would not provide the details but members of the delegation for the first time felt that there was seriousness on the part of the Afghan Taliban government on the issue. "Everyone in the delegation noted a change in the Afghan Taliban stance towards the TTP," said an official while requesting anonymity. The issue of cross-border terrorism has remained at the heart of tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Interim Afghan government had previously refused to address Pakistan's concerns or steps they had taken were insufficient. But the Pakistani delegation, visiting Kabul for a daylong trip, felt that the steps taken this time by Afghan Taliban were positives. "Let's see the outcome of those steps in the coming days. At least, they (Taliban) have shown seriousness," added the official. Upon his return from Kabul, Pakistan's point person Ambassador Sadiq reported progress in a terse statement on X. "After a 15-month pause, the 7th meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) convened in Kabul - a vital platform for addressing sensitive and strategic issues," he said. "Regular and sustained engagement through such mechanisms is essential to ease tensions, dispel doubts, and strengthen mutual understanding in bilateral ties," Sadiq wrote. Both sides, according to the sources, also agreed to lower rhetoric and avoid using public forums to blame each other. When asked what did really prompt the Taliban government to bring shift in its policy, a source attributed it to the volatile economic situation, suspension of the US aid and Pakistani pressure. The sources said that since the JCC meeting was held after a gap of many months, therefore, so many issues were on the table. Both sides decided to continue discussions. While the Pakistani delegation was in Kabul, the Afghan delegation led by its Commerce Minister Nooruddin Azizi arrived in Islamabad for a three-day visit. Sources said that more bilateral visits were being planned as Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar might also visit Kabul. According to a handout issued by the Commerce Ministry, the 16-member high-level delegation from Afghanistan arrived in Islamabad on a three-day visit. It said that nine members of the delegation crossed into Pakistan via Torkham border, while seven members reached Islamabad by air. The aim of the visit was to remove obstacles in the way of promoting Pak-Afghan bilateral trade, including the renewal of the Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement, the commerce ministry stated in the handout. It added that the Afghan delegation also included the deputy minister for refugees and resettlement, who would be holding talks with senior Pakistani officials in Islamabad regarding the recent evacuation of Afghan refugees.
Arab News
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan's special envoy visits Afghanistan amid deepening tensions over militancy
ISLAMABAD: A senior Pakistani diplomat designated to exclusively deal with Afghanistan-related matters is on a three-day visit to the neighboring country, the foreign office announced on Saturday, as bilateral ties between the two nations hit a low point amid a surge in militant attacks in Pakistan. Pakistan-Afghanistan relations have remained tense in recent months due to a mix of security, political and border issues, with Islamabad accusing the Taliban-led interim government in Kabul of providing safe haven to anti-Pakistan militant groups facilitating cross-border attacks. Kabul has denied the allegations. The friction escalated after a recent targeting of a passenger train in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, claimed by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Pakistani officials said the BLA fighters remained in contact with 'handlers' based in Afghanistan during the attack that lasted for two days and involved hundred of hostages. 'At the direction of Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, Special Representative for Afghanistan, Amb. Muhammad Sadiq Khan, is undertaking an official visit to Afghanistan from 21-23 March 2025 to discuss Pakistan-Afghanistan bilateral relation,' the foreign office said in a social media post, without providing further details. Pakistan launched a nationwide deportation campaign targeting undocumented foreigners, mostly Afghans, in November 2023, shortly after a series of deadly suicide bombings that officials blamed on Afghan nationals. The move, which added to diplomatic tensions between the two countries, has so far led to the repatriation of more than 800,000 Afghans. Many of them had lived in Pakistan since fleeing the Soviet invasion of their country in 1979. The Pakistani government earlier this month also directed Afghanistan Citizen Card holders to leave the country by March 31, warning they would face deportation if they failed to comply.
