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OPINION JULY 31, 2026 | The Indian Eye 11

therefore, not Taliban-centric. These
are primarily bilateral in nature and
have endured for decades, some as
early as Pakistan’s creation.
The erstwhile FATA region,
among Pakistan’s ‘ungoverned an-
archic zones’, was the nerve center
of the mujahideen resistance against
Soviet forces in the 1980s and a hub
of terrorism, where radicalism flour-
ished through a network of madrasas
funded by the CIA and Saudi Arabia.
Post-9/11, the region gave safe shelter
to the retreating Taliban. The 1,300
km-plus section of the Durand Line,
dominated by Pashtuns, has been the
chief source of instability for Afghan-
istan. Apart from the insurgency and
Pakistan’s reprisals against Afghan-
istan, the Balochistan border has re-
mained an important arena, forming
a conduit within the notorious Gold-
en Crescent, formed by Iran, Afghan-
istan and Pakistan, as the hub of illicit
drug trafficking, from where opium
is grown and distributed around the
world. The Afghan–Soviet War and the American War on Terror were defining events in Afghanistan’s trajectory (File photo)
Afghanistan, the ‘Graveyard of
Empires’, has witnessed multiple in- Taliban fighting the US during the prioritizing of its internal securi- imperiled the strategic situation of
vasions—by the British, the Russians, War on Terror. ty goals, given extended swathes of Afghanistan rather irreparably. Paki-
and later the United States. The Brit- All these decades, Pakistan’s at- unstable regions bordering Afghani- stan has always tried to influence the
ish used the region that would later titude towards Afghanistan has been stan. More significantly, Pakistan has internal situation in Afghanistan to
become Pakistan, such as the Bolan to find opportunities in a crisis, and always viewed Afghanistan as a pitch suit its strategic objectives. Even the
Pass and Khyber Pass, to ambush the in doing so, Pakistan has, advertently to settle scores against New Delhi. Afghan refugees that it hosted for
Afghan forces during their protracted or inadvertently, ended up engaging This is despite India not possessing a decades and is now expelling were
wars in the 18th and 19th centuries. the opposition better than those who direct land border with Afghanistan kept for strategic needs, not on hu-
Later during the Cold War, it was Pa- held power, or the government of the due to Gilgit-Baltistan’s controver- manitarian grounds. That grim view
kistan that provided logistical support day, so to speak. Pakistan’s dealings sial accession to Pakistan in 1947. In- of refugees was pivotal in convincing
in the CIA’s covert operation to oust with Afghanistan, as a result, have dia remains one of the most conspic- the US Congress to intervene in Af-
the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. mostly lain in the grey areas with few- uous defining factors of Pakistan’s ghanistan against the Soviet Union.
Subsequently, Pakistan was a er straight dealings. While engaging gambit or policy on Afghanistan. Islamabad has invested less in
frontline state in the US’s War on these factions or resistant constitu- New Delhi drives Pakistan’s de- resurrecting Afghanistan than in
Terror against Afghanistan. There- encies, Pakistan has more often be- sire for strategic depth. Since inde- damaging it. Taliban could not be
fore, across centuries and decades, haved as their patron and provider, pendence, and even before that, In- holding Kabul if Pakistan had not
Pakistan has remained a perennial providing them with money or arms. dia has had an abiding relationship supported it. Therefore, while coun-
route for powers intervening in Af- That is also how, during Operation with Afghanistan and enjoys con- tries like India generously helped
ghanistan. It has used its logistical Cyclone, Islamabad served as the siderable goodwill in the country. Afghanistan’s reconstruction and
advantage towards Afghanistan to conduit for US funds used to bolster Chary of this, Pakistan has viewed development, Pakistan has merely
earn material benefits and political anti-Soviet resistance. every crisis as an opportunity to been a purveyor of US aid, covert or
favors from the US throughout the The rupture in the Taliban–Pa- checkmate India. Underpinned by overt. Pakistan’s highly self-centered,
two phases of US interventions in Af- kistan equations can be seen as such such biases, Pakistan has consistent- security-centric approach has dented
ghanistan. Not only this, but Pakistan a cumulative manifestation of Paki- ly treated Afghanistan as a strategic Afghanistan’s political system and in-
has also used its geography with Af- stan’s patronizing tendencies. Since pawn and not a country on par. Its hibited its political growth.
ghanistan to blackmail Washington to the Taliban, once their protégés, have desire to outbid India has never let
extract leeway against India. refused to budge, Pakistan is left in- Islamabad perceive Afghanistan Dr Priyanka Singh is Associate Fellow
Underneath the goals that the creasingly incensed that the group through a neutral lens. at Manohar Parrikar Institute for De-
War on Terror projected, Pakistan that once survived on their support For nearly three decades of its fence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA),
always veered towards securing its is now refusing to bend the knee. A existence, Pakistan has been directly New Delhi
own strategic objectives vis-à-vis nuisance quotient has dominated involved in wars in Afghanistan un- Views expressed are of the author and
Afghanistan’s future. This probably how Pakistan treats Afghanistan. der the US’s aegis. Both these wars, do not necessarily reflect the views of
continued through the two decades Probably, that is why its relations the Afghan–Soviet War and the War the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the
of US–Taliban war. Pakistan has con- with Afghanistan per se have been on Terror, were defining events in Government of India
tinuously fished for opportunities in far from cordial for the most part, ex- Afghanistan’s trajectory. They con-
Afghanistan’s troubled waters—be cept for a few phases, including that tinue to shape its society, geopoli- The full version article first appeared
it cultivating the anti-communist of Taliban 1.0. tics and interstate relations. In the in the Comments section of the website
constituencies during the Cold War Pakistan’s conduct on Afghani- name of managing US objectives in (www.idsa.in) of Manohar Parrikar
years, nurturing the Mujahideen stan is always biased at least due to Afghanistan while seeking its seem- Institute for Defense Studies and Anal-
front against the Soviet Union or the two primary factors. The first is the ingly contrary agenda, Pakistan has yses, New Delhi, on July 22, 2026

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