Page 11 - The Indian EYE 121622

OPINION DECEMBER 16, 2022 | The Indian Eye 11

of Pakistan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi sues and not repeat the same mistake
dismissed it as propaganda. again otherwise it will have bad con-
There were commentators in Pa- sequences”.
kistan who held that if Afghanistan There is an overwhelming feel-
was to become a pariah state or an ing in Pakistan that the Taliban have
unstable country with the Taliban as betrayed their trust and forgotten the
a nationalistic force too weak to gov- material and moral support they had
ern, it was going to be a massive chal- received in their struggle against the
lenge for Pakistan. A regime with no Americans. It is not difficult to under-
coherence within the group and weak stand why Pakistan, after backing the
control over the country could not act Taliban to the hilt, has not recognized
against groups like TTP. Moreover, their government as legitimate after
some reports indicated that anti-Paki- almost a year.
stan hatred among common Afghans
was intense. Due to various reasons, Conclusion
“Afghans do not consider themselves
responsible for their miseries and de- iven the grave challenges the
struction”, wrote one commentator Pakistan’s foreign minister of state Hina Rabbani Khar holds talks with her Afghan counter- Taliban face in Afghanistan,
in an Urdu daily, Nawa-e-Waqt, “but part Amir Khan Muttaqi a day after Pakistan Taliban ended truce Git is hard to predict what the
[put the blame on] the policies of Pa- future holds for Pakistan–Afghani-
kistan in Afghanistan”. stan relations. Meanwhile, Pakistan
Some experts did warn against has learnt it the hard way that it has
the churlish celebrations. Former am- to fight its own war against the TTP.
bassador Maleeha Lodhi prescient- Islamabad may continue to prod the
ly wrote after the fall of Kabul that Taliban to take action against the TTP
Islamabad should practice caution members and stop them from using
“as a fluid situation can encourage the Afghan territory against Paki-
cross-border attacks from militant stan. However, given the ideological
groups based in Afghanistan that Ka- convergence TTP has with the Tali-
bul has yet to act against and on which ban and the support that they receive
Islamabad should secure ironclad from the people in south-eastern Af-
guarantees”. ghanistan, the Taliban may not be able
According to a report by the Paki- to fulfil Pakistan’s request.
stan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS) Not only do they fear of backlash
in October 2022, since the Taliban re- from within their own ranks if they act
turned to power in Afghanistan on 15 against the TTP, they also apprehend
August 2021, Pakistan witnessed a 51 that if they act against the TTP, its
per cent increase in terror attacks in a Insurgents across the world have been able to use their transnational links and support to members may join other terror groups
single year. survive as well as garner support like Daesh and Al-Qaeda. They are
The latest TTP attack took place also perhaps too conscious of the im-
on 14 November 2022 after which the and their promise of cutting ties to al Taliban blessings. plications of acting at the bidding of
main crossing for trade between the Qaeda and other such groups”, one The TTP, despite the promises Pakistan, especially when there was
two countries, the ‘Friendship Gate’ Pakistani official was quoted as saying. of the Taliban, continued with their a perception that they were merely
at the Wesh-Chaman border, had to The Taliban always claimed that the offensive and increased their attacks. acting as puppets of Pakistan. In their
be closed. The attackers came from Afghan territory would not be used by On 14 April 2022, in an attack in earlier avatar in the 1990s also, the
the Afghan side and killed one securi- terrorists against any other state. North Waziristan, seven Pakistani sol- Taliban had refused to recognize the
ty personnel, according to reports. However, when the Taliban failed diers were killed, leading to a harsh Durand Line as the border between
to act against the TTP, capturing the exchange of statements between the the two countries. Now too, they are
Taliban confronts Islamabad frustrations on the Pakistani side, senior two countries. The sharp response likely to pose as uncompromising Af-
journalist Saleem Safi wrote in Jang from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign ghan nationalists, and not stooges of
he jubilations in Pakistan over that Pakistan’s policy on Afghanistan Affairs stated that some other country. All these issues
the Taliban victory in Afghan- was flawed, based on three assump- Pakistan has repeatedly request- are likely to create rifts and conflicts
Tistan, therefore, did not last tions: One, the American presence ed Afghan Government in last few between the Taliban and Pakistan.
long. Expectedly, the Taliban focused was the root problem in Afghanistan; months to secure Pak-Afghan border
on their national interests once they two, Ashraf Ghani, Hamid Karzai and region. Terrorists are using Afghan Dr Nazir Ahmad Mir is a Research
were back in power. Their immediate Abdullah Abdullah were Pakistan’s soil with impunity to carry out activi- Analyst at Manohar Parrikar Institute
security calculations were different enemies and the Taliban are friends; ties inside Pakistan. for Defense Studies and Analyses
from that of Pakistan. Moreover, they and third, there is no connection be- With the Taliban unwilling or in-
shared their ideological moorings tween the Afghan Taliban and TTP. capable of stopping the terror attacks Views expressed are of the author and
with TTP. Once the Taliban came to pow- across the border, Pakistan carried do not necessarily reflect the views of
At the very beginning of the Tal- er, these assumptions were proved out strikes inside the Afghan territo- the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the
iban 2.0 rule, Pakistan had asked the wrong. Afghanistan under the Taliban ry on 15 April to target terrorists. The Government of India.
Taliban to take action against TTP “as helped the TTP to re-unite and re- reaction from the Taliban officials and
a test case” to prove both their power emerge with full force. They report- the Afghans for violating Afghani- This article first appeared in the
and commitment to their words that edly armed themselves with sophisti- stan’s sovereignty was on expected Comments section of the website (www.
they would act against terrorism. “If cated weapons that were left behind lines. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah idsa.in) of Manohar Parrikar Institute
the Taliban can’t address concerns of by the foreign troops, which could not Mujahid warned Pakistan “not to test for Defense Studies and Analyses, New
Pakistan, then who would trust them have occurred with overt or covert the patience of Afghans on such is- Delhi on December 8, 2022

www.TheIndianEYE.com