What exactly happened that the relationship between these two once-friendly neighbouring countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan has now touched such a nadir?
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Pakistan is now being forced to swallow the very poison it created to put India in trouble by providing safe havens and training to misguided youths under the aegis of different fundamentalist organisations that caused hundreds of deaths and destroyed properties worth crores of rupees over the years. Quite ironically, the same Pakistan is now alleging that Afghanistan is supporting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), popularly known as the Pakistan Taliban, a militant organisation targeting Pakistani security establishments and other prominent places. Now, to prevent an increased number of attacks by TTP, including the use of suicide bombers, Pakistan has started making missile attacks into Afghanistan in an attempt to escape the burning effects of that poison. Even hospitals have not been spared from these attacks. Recently, one such missile strike reduced a hospital meant for patients with mental health conditions to rubble, killing more than 400 people and injuring many others.
But what exactly happened that the relationship between these two once-friendly neighbouring countries has now touched such a nadir? After the American troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Pakistan’s then Prime Minister and renowned cricketer of yesteryears Imran Khan remarked that “finally Afghans have broken the shackles of slavery.” Yet, within a couple of years, the situation has changed completely and now Islamabad is keen to teach another Islamic nation a lesson for not following its diktats. For the record, TTP was hand in glove with the Afghan Taliban when America attacked Afghanistan. As a matter of fact, TTP penetrated so deep into Pakistan during that period that the organisation, which is an amalgamation of several militant outfits, even dared to attack schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Things turned sour when Pakistan claimed that Afghanistan is providing all support to TTP for creating unrest in Balochistan. Thus, to teach Afghanistan a lesson, Pakistan has carried out aerial attacks on Afghanistan, taking advantage of the neighbour’s non-existent air defence system, after being engaged in several clashes between the two countries in the bordering areas. This was temporarily stopped after countries like Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia stepped in and put pressure on both the countries to declare a ceasefire in October last, which ultimately proved to be fragile. Now, taking advantage of a weaker opponent, Pakistan has attacked Afghanistan with renewed vigour, and Kabul is only attempting to resist by indulging in guerrilla warfare.
Instead of flexing muscles against a comparatively weaker Afghanistan, Pakistan should engage in self-introspection, as India has made the same allegations against Pakistan on a number of occasions. Despite strong evidence presented by India, Pakistan has consistently denied the charges and continued to provide all necessary support to militant groups to create instability in Kashmir. Therefore, it can be safely stated that today Pakistan is facing the consequences of its own actions. Moreover, the Balochistan issue—over which Pakistan is attacking Afghanistan—has its own history, as Pakistan had taken control of that region militarily, while Kashmir’s accession to India occurred through an agreement between the concerned parties. Thus, just like the most skilled performer playing with fire eventually gets burned, Pakistan today appears to be suffering the consequences of its own deeds.