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    EYE ON INDIA                                                      NOVEMBER 07, 2025        |  The Indian Eye                    6

              Pakistan Faces Twin Crises in Balochistan

             and Afghanistan Amid Mounting Instability

             Islamabad’s heavy-handed tactics in Balochistan and fractured policy toward Kabul expose

                                                  deepening political and military turmoil.

            OUR BUREAU                                                                                            resolved peacefully.” This glaring
                                                                                                                  policy incoherence has highlighted
            New Delhi
                                                                                                                  deep divisions within Pakistan’s lead-
                 akistan is facing one of its most                                                                ership over how to handle the Taliban
                 serious internal and external                                                                    regime. The mixed messaging from
            Pcrises in recent years, simul-                                                                       Islamabad—part diplomacy, part in-
            taneously battling growing unrest in                                                                  timidation—reflects  an  absence  of
            Balochistan  and  escalating  border                                                                  strategic direction, leaving Pakistan
            tensions with Afghanistan. Both flash-                                                                isolated even among its traditional
            points—rooted in historical mistrust,                                                                 allies.
            military overreach, and policy inco-                                                                      The crises in Balochistan and
            herence—have exposed Islamabad’s                                                                      Afghanistan are more than isolated
            inability to manage dissent at home or                                                                security issues—they are symptoms
            diplomacy abroad. As the twin crises                                                                  of Pakistan’s deep structural malaise.
            deepen, Pakistan’s image as a region-                                                                 At home, decades of suppressing
            al powerbroker is rapidly eroding,                                                                    ethnic  movements  through  military
            replaced by perceptions of a state in                                                                 means have eroded public trust. In
            turmoil, trapped in its own contradic-                                                                its neighbourhood, a reliance on mil-
            tions.                                                                                                itant proxies and coercive diplomacy
                In Balochistan, the military has                                                                  has  backfired,  producing  a  hostile
            intensified operations under the pre-                                                                 Afghanistan and strained relations
            text of countering insurgents, but                                                                    across South and Central Asia. Islam-
            reports from local and international                                                                  abad’s internal fractures—between its
            media paint a far darker picture. The                                                                 civilian leaders, the powerful army,
            Balochistan  Post recently  reported                                                                  and competing security agencies—
            that the Pakistani army has seized                                                                    have further paralyzed coherent pol-
            civilian land in Zehri, Khuzdar dis-                                                                  icymaking.
            trict, forcing locals into hard labour                                                                    For years, Pakistan’s military es-
            and converting public spaces into                                                                     tablishment has projected itself as the
            military outposts. Large tracts of land   Pakistani soldiers stand near a wrecked bus after Balochi separatist militants drove a vehicle   guardian of national unity and region-
            have reportedly been taken over for      laden with explosives into a convoy which killed at least five (ANI file photo)   al influence. Yet its heavy-handedness
            new camps, with checkpoints chok-                                                                     in Balochistan and its failure to man-
            ing civilian movement. Residents de-  Rights Commission of Pakistan have   province has evolved into a full-blown   age Afghanistan show the limits of
            scribe being compelled to work for   condemned the army’s actions, urging   diplomatic crisis. Pakistan accuses the   that control. The reliance on force has
            the army—taken from their homes at   Islamabad to halt its “excessive use of   Taliban of harbouring militants from   not quelled dissent—it has deepened
            dawn and released only after sunset.   force” and restore essential services.   the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),   it. The inability to reconcile domestic
            The  takeover  of  Zehri’s  only  hospi-  For decades, Balochistan’s people   responsible for a wave of deadly at-  oppression with international diplo-
            tal and its conversion into a military   have demanded autonomy and con-  tacks inside its borders. Kabul denies   macy has left Pakistan fighting on two
            base has worsened the humanitarian   trol over local resources, but Islam-  these allegations, claiming that Paki-  fronts it can no longer fully control.
            crisis, leaving residents without ac-  abad’s response has largely been mil-  stan violates Afghan sovereignty un-  Caught between  rebellion  at
            cess to basic healthcare. A pregnant   itarised. The latest crackdown further   der the pretext of counter-terrorism.   home and confrontation abroad, Pa-
            woman’s death due to lack of treat-  alienates an already resentful popula-  The Taliban’s retaliation across the   kistan  finds  itself  increasingly  isolat-
            ment earlier this month has become a   tion and deepens the province’s sense   Durand Line and subsequent threats   ed, its credibility eroding in both re-
            grim symbol of the ongoing suffering.  of occupation rather than belonging.  from Pakistan’s Defence Minister   gional and global arenas. The crises
                These operations, marked by       Even as Pakistan faces inter-  Khawaja Asif have only worsened   in Balochistan and Afghanistan are
            air and drone strikes, began in Sep-  national criticism for its conduct in   tensions.               converging into a single truth: Islam-
            tember following an armed uprising   Balochistan, it is entangled in a de-  Asif’s blunt warning—that Paki-  abad’s decades-old playbook of coer-
            by  Baloch  fighters  who  briefly  took   teriorating standoff  with  the  Taliban   stan “will not hesitate to strike deep   cion, denial, and division is collapsing
            control of the town. While Paki-  regime in Afghanistan. The failure   into Afghan territory” if attacks con-  under its own weight. Without a shift
            stan’s Inter-Services Public Relations   of four-day peace talks in Istanbul—  tinue—has drawn sharp global crit-  toward genuine dialogue, political re-
            (ISPR) has framed the campaign as   mediated by Turkey and Qatar—un-  icism. His remarks contradicted the   form,  and  accountability,  Pakistan’s
            an anti-insurgency drive, locals al-  derscored the lack of trust between   conciliatory tone of Interior Minister   twin fires may soon become an uncon-
            lege widespread civilian casualties.   Islamabad and Kabul. What began   Mohsin Naqvi, who just days earli-  trollable blaze—one that threatens to
            Human rights groups including Am-  as a dispute over alleged cross-bor-  er advocated dialogue, describing   consume the very foundations of the
            nesty International and the Human   der airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Paktika   disputes as “differences that can be   state itself.

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