Af-Pak impasse
Access to education for girls, protection of women’s rights, and an ethnically inclusive government are nowhere in sight in Afghanistan.
The recent incidents at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border have brought to light the unresolved issue of the Durand Line, which has the potential to exacerbate tensions between the two sides.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August, Pakistan had hoped to put the issue of Durand Line to rest.
Pakistani leadership backed the Afghan Taliban despite warnings from the international community about a terrorist blowback. Within months of the Taliban takeover of Kabul, Pakistan is now facing the consequences, said an editorial piece by virtual think-tank Global Strat View (GSV).
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As the Taliban try to establish themselves politically in Afghanistan, the simmering issue of Durand Line has resurfaced after the Taliban damaged parts of the border fence erected by the Pakistan army.
Experts have anticipated the likelihood that the current border clashes on the border can potentially lead to a rupture in the ties between Kabul and Islamabad.
Recently, Pakistan’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf had to cancel his visit to Afghanistan in view of a planned anti-Pakistan protest in Kabul.
Yusuf was scheduled to lead an inter-ministerial Pakistani delegation to discuss the issue of border fencing along the Durand Line.
NSA Yusuf had to cancel his two-day visit as an anti-Pakistan protest was planned at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
Contrary to media reports, Pakistan NSA earlier said the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan were maintaining cordial ties with Pakistan despite border fencing troubles.
Answering questions on multiple border incidents with the Taliban, Yusuf said those incidents were “local level issues” that were addressed locally and had nothing to do with the policy of the Taliban government.
According to Global Strat View, Islamabad is yet to understand that the Taliban does not feel beholden to the ISI for its takeover of Kabul last year.
The think tank added that the Taliban’s main challenge comes on the financial and economic front, and Pakistan doesn’t have the capacity to be of any meaningful help.
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