Col (r) Ikram Ullah Khan
The history of Pakistan-Afghanistan strained relations can be traced back to 1947 when Pakistan gained its independence from British Raj, with Afghanistan refusing to recognize Pakistan to begin with, but later on, it was compelled to recognize it with lots of reluctance and reservations. However, it never accepted Pakistan’s existence wholeheartedly.
Afghanistan’s opposition to the Durand Line as the official border between the two neighbours has remained a bone of contention, thereby triggering animosity and acrimony between the two neighbours right from the outset.
Afghanistan’s hostility towards Pakistan was made known quite manifestly when it intensely opposed Pakistan’s membership to United Nations. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, tensions between the two neighbours escalated when Afghanistan fuelled and supported nationalist movements within Pakistan, thus compelling Pakistan to revisit it’s Afghan policy in order to address the Afghan challenge. Pakistan began fostering relations with Taliban in a bid to counter the growing Indian interest and influence in Afghanistan. But the irony is that the same Taliban which came to power with the active support of Pakistan, later on, turned their guns against Pakistan and entered into an unholy alliance with Pakistan’s archenemies, i.e. India.
Pakistan’s initial enthusiasm for Taliban and celebration of their return to power proved short-lived when it saw the Taliban interim regime backing and sheltering TTP, (an acronym of Tahreek-e-Talban Pakistan, now renamed as Fitna-al-Khawarij by the State of Pakistan) to launch deadly terrorist attacks inside Pakistan day in and day out, thus claiming hundreds of innocent lives.
Pakistan’s initial support for Taliban’s return to power was primarily shaped by its friendly relations and cooperation with the Taliban’s first regime (1996-2001). During that period, Pakistan enjoyed significant influence in Kabul, while India had minimal presence in Afghan affairs. However, Pakistan’s sweet dream that the resurgence of Taliban would open a new golden chapter in their mutual relations was turned into a nightmare when Taliban leadership started seeing an enemy in Pakistan, and their attention tilted towards India and they started seeing India as a great friend and benefactor.
This miscalculation on the part of Pakistan stemmed from an oversimplified view of Taliban as a potent Islamic force with pristine Islamic beliefs.
Unfortunately, the Afghan Taliban who claim to be the bearer of the lofty “Standard” of Islam, finally turned out to be the false claimer of Islam and showed their true colours after they joined hands with Hindus who are the sworn enemies of Islam, and by extension, Pakistan. Their face was unmasked after their foreign minister Amir Muttaqi while sitting in Indian capital announced their unholy alliance with India terming it a great friend and supporter, and implicitly declaring Pakistan as their common enemy without realising that the disbelievers can never be their allies/guardians as emphatically and unequivocally mentioned in the Holy Qura’n (Surah Nisa verse 144 and Surah al-Maidah verse 57).
The Taliban fail to understand that India is using them as a cat’s paw to settle personal scores after it suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands of Pakistan on 10 May, 2025.
As for prospects of peace and normalisation of relations, the chances seem to be very gloomy mainly because of two reasons.
Firstly, Kabul can’t dare turn against TTP because they have jointly fought a long war against the occupation forces and that TTP has rendered significant sacrifices. Kabul can’t afford to earn the wrath of TTP because they know that TTP along with Da’esh and other terrorist outfits operating inside Afghanistan can give them tough time and destabilize their already tottering regime if they decide to take action against the TTP. As the famous saying goes, “he who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount”. So, the terrorist attacks in Pakistan by TTP from Afghan soil will continue without let-up.
Secondly, India has made billions of dollars of investment in Afghanistan in exchange for buying Taliban’s loyalty and support to be used against Pakistan. Taliban have practically been turn into a mercenary force who would continue to fight an Indian proxy war against Pakistan. The Taliban can’t afford to betray their master by making peace with Pakistan. Hence, there are bleak chances of peace and normalisation of relations between the two Muslim neighbours.
As for the temporary ceasefire and Doha peace talks being held in Qatar’s capital on the request of Afghanistan, defence analysts and strategists don’t sound very optimistic about it’s success given the Indian smart and crafty stratagem that seems to be at play behind the ceasefire and the peace talks. It seems to be a ploy to buy time so that they could devise a new strategy and regroup to deal with Pakistan after they received a sound thrashing at the hands of Pakistan in the first round.
The bottom line is : Pakistan would be left with no option but to retaliate and conduct surgical strike inside Afghan territory as a policy of “New Normal” in order to eliminate the menace of Fitna -al- Khawarij and dismantle their sanctuaries and hideouts in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan if Afghanistan fails to rein in TTP and stop it from launching terrorist attacks from their soil on Pakistan.
The Taliban interim regime needs to understand that the consequences of waging war against Pakistan at the behest of India would be catastrophic for Afghanistan’s security and economy, and being a landlocked country it can’t afford war with Pakistan. They need to understand that Pakistan is a formidable military might that can’t be taken for granted.
The Taliban would soon come to realize that they are being used by India as a tool and that they are waging a proxy war against Pakistan. Moreover, the Taliban have a false notion that they are an invincible force and that they have defeated the USA and the former USSR. They fail to understand that had it not been for the substantial external support, it wouldn’t have been possible for them to defeat both the above-mentioned powers as the Taliban were absolutely divested of that kind of capability which plays a decisive role in war. So the credit goes to someone else, and not to Taliban who are so boastfully claiming their invincibility, and threatening Pakistan while sitting in New Delhi. If they didn’t shed their stubbornness and continued fighting against Pakistan, they’re destined to meet their Waterloo very soon (Insha Allah), and their false friend won’t take much time to leave them high and dry.
Related:
Clashes Break Out on Pak-Afghan Border.
Arandu Residents Rally Against Afghan Aggression.