Hopefully National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf got more than just more verbal assurances from the Taliban about not letting anybody use Afghan soil for attacks on other countries. For, there\u2019ve been plenty of such promises since the change of guard across the Durand Line, yet the TTP threat has persisted and there has been a marked uptick in violence in Pakistan over the last few months. That\u2019s why Islamabad should demand iron-clad assurances about the future. But the matter doesn\u2019t end there. TTP will also have to answer for the blood that it is spilling and Islamabad will be forced to consider out-of-the box options if the Taliban refuse to play ball.
\nThere\u2019s not been much public debate in Pakistan about the matter of Taliban foot soldiers attacking and destroying parts of the border fence on the Pakistani side. If we are bending over backwards to get the world to engage with the Taliban regime, and delivering aid to the country as well, the least that they can do is respect our borders. But that\u2019s not happening because of the old problem a lot of Afghans have with the legitimacy of the internationally recognized border. This problem arose even during the Taliban\u2019s last government in the late 1990s, so it\u2019s more than a small surprise that the Pakistani government hasn\u2019t put its foot down about border security even as the situation on the ground is worsening. The Taliban not only destroyed parts of the fence but also attacked Pakistani soldiers when they were repairing it.
\nThere are also reports of Afghanistan\u2019s two other backers right now, China and Russia, getting increasingly frustrated with the regime in Kabul. It is the Taliban, after all, who continue to refuse to honour promises about minority and women\u2019s rights, among other things, which is holding back resumption of aid and perhaps also recognition down the road. Pakistan has done the right thing to try and lobby for the neighbouring country because without urgent aid much of the civilian population there will be wiped out by hunger and starvation. But if their own government is also forming the biggest roadblock to normalization in and outside the country, then there\u2019s not much that other governments can do.
\nFrom our own point of view though, the must know in very clear terms that we help them for specific reasons, which have to do with peace and stability in the region, and they must also play their part when and where necessary. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hopefully National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf got more than just more verbal assurances from the Taliban about not letting anybody use Afghan soil for attacks on other countries. For, there\u2019ve been plenty of such promises since the change of guard across the Durand Line, yet the TTP threat has persisted and there has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3564,1814],"class_list":{"0":"post-241894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorial","7":"tag-assurances","8":"tag-kabul"},"yoast_head":"\n