Najm us Saqib<\/p>\n
Finally, Pakistan decided to call a spade a spade. Messages sent to the \u2018unrecognized\u2019 interim govern\u00adment in Kabul through diplomatic chan\u00adnels; offering amnesty to all \u2018con\u00adcerned\u2019; blocking trade routes; or sending the undocumented Afghans back home would not help in making the Taliban un\u00adderstand their responsibilities towards the export of terrorism to Pakistan. In his recent Congres\u00adsional hearing, Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu, inter alia, confirmed that the \u2018current greatest terrorist threat to Pakistan emanated from Afghanistan.\u2019
\nIn addition, Afghanistan was time and again reminded of Pakistan\u2019s decades-old support to the Afghan cause but to no avail. Nothing seemed to have been working as the death toll in Pakistan kept on increasing. Even the \u2018unconfirmed\u2019 attack inside its territory last year would not help Kabul understand the gravity of the matter. Perhaps, the recent shaha\u00addat of seven soldiers in North Waziristan proved to be the tipping point to convey an unequivocal message – stop patroniz\u00ading TTP, a globally designated terrorist organization, and using them as a proxy against Pakistan. Enough is enough.
\nHence, Pakistan had no hesitation in officially confirming that its military car\u00adried out intelligence-based aerial strikes inside Afghanistan. The stated objective? To punish all those terrorists responsi\u00adble for killing hundreds of civilians and security forces in cross-border raids.
\nThe absence of any offensive response except from Kabul and a straightfor\u00adward acquiescence thereof by the Unit\u00aded States provided a kind of validity to the aerial strikes. In any case, in a world where firing of missiles inside each oth\u00ader\u2019s territories or killing \u2018terrorists\u2019 through covert operations abroad or for that matter staying in a country for two-decades to combatting terrorism and ex\u00adtremism is considered legitimate- Paki\u00adstan\u2019s recent aerial strikes must not be taken as an outrightly outrageous over\u00adture. The Gaza genocide, the Russian Special Operation in Ukraine and the UN Security Council\u2019s helplessness further provides a raison d\u2019\u00eatre for safeguarding your national interest by yourself. The existence of proxies and the emergence of hybrid warfare are other factors com\u00adpelling nation states to do in Rome as the Romans do. In this way, sending messag\u00ades through aerial strikes should not be construed as violation of someone\u2019s ter\u00adritorial integrity. As such actions do not tantamount to waging an all-out war anymore, the international community would like to simply look the other way.
\nTaliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mu\u00adjahid\u2019s warning that \u2018such incidents can have very bad consequences, which will be out of Pakistan\u2019s control\u2019 speaks volumes about the Afghan mindset. Re\u00admember, the Afghans are good fighters and war is in their DNA. With an un\u00adeasy eastern border, Pakistan would not wish to prolong tension on its west\u00adern borders particularly in view of its recent experience with Iran. There\u00adfore, the Defense Minister\u2019s statement that Pakistan would not want war with Afghanistan was timely. On the oth\u00ader hand, Kabul could ill afford to turn its erstwhile friendly neighbor into a sworn enemy.
\nHistory of diplomacy tells us that in the face of strained and uneasy bilateral re\u00adlations, better sense could still prevail. Following points need consideration if the two neighbors ever desired to prac\u00adtice peaceful coexistence \u2013 to sort out is\u00adsues and not each other – and for them to concentrate on their individual progress:
\nOne: To move forward, one must for\u00adget the past. One can go on and on in jus\u00adtifying the past or cribbing about it, but the fact remains \u2013 one cannot change the past. Let us come to terms with the ground realities. Furthermore, plac\u00ading past records in front of each other to prove a point or two would not help. Similarly, recalling good or bad deeds of each other does not make any sense particularly after experiencing hard core aerial strikes.
\nTwo: To forestall any future strikes, Afghanistan must realize that TTP\u2019s ne\u00adfarious activities have gone out of con\u00adtrol. By harboring globally recognized terrorists, Kabul becomes an accom\u00adplice in criminal activities. It must un\u00adderstand that an accomplice is equally responsible for any untoward incidence. By encouraging rogue elements, Kabul would automatically be asking for trou\u00adble. Otherwise also, killing of innocent Pakistanis would not help Afghanistan in receiving recognition for its govern\u00adment. Nor would it assist in increasing the country\u2019s GDP.
\nThree: Pakistan must treat Afghani\u00adstan as an independent country. Leave the rulers of Kabul to their own devic\u00ades. On the other hand, the policy of chok\u00ading the trade corridors or sending back undocumented individuals needs to be revisited and honed. Resumption of re\u00adpatriation process after Ramzan will help – only after calculating Kabul\u2019s re\u00adsponse. It is highly unlikely that Kabul would budge and do the needful regard\u00ading TTP\u2019s activities.
\nFour: War begins when diplomacy fails. Nevertheless, even during wars, di\u00adplomacy could play a constructive role. Employing diplomatic ways and means to forestall a tense predicament must not be ruled out. A word of caution. It is not Iran or a Scandinavian country that Pakistan is dealing with. It is Afghani\u00adstan. Hence, \u2018improvised\u2019 and \u2018secured\u2019 diplomacy is advisable. Even after hav\u00ading a series of failed peace negotiations, there is no harm in initiating fresh par\u00adleys. Besides involving the adjacent Cen\u00adtral Asian States, the Chinese wisdom might also prove beneficial.
\nFive: Removing the remaining mis\u00adgivings of our American friends, in the real sense of the word, will greatly bene\u00adfit Islamabad in not only improving eco\u00adnomic, trade and military bilateral rela\u00adtions but also to jointly curb the menace of terrorism. In this regard, to the ex\u00adtent possible, Washington\u2019s \u2018suspicion\u2019 over Pak-Afghan relations and its con\u00adcerns over the Afghan repatriation proj\u00adect need to be addressed.
\nAs regards TTP – the outfit tried to em\u00adulate the Taliban in its pursuit of having \u2018control\u2019. However, after getting a reali\u00adty check, the group has realized that \u2018an Afghan Taliban-style victory in Pakistan is currently an unrealistic goal\u2019. There\u00adfore, its reprehensible activities are not likely to go beyond a certain point. There is an urgent need to redouble ef\u00adforts in taking \u2018appropriate\u2019 measures to avoid a repeat of the North Waziristan incident. No one can predict a terror\u00adist attack. However, accurate and time\u00adly intel could help in combating terror\u00adism. Fresh strategy needs to be devised as reportedly, after going through a se\u00adries of mergers (Dalgey) and improv\u00ading upon its operational skills, TTP has developed a \u2018localized strategy\u2019. Relying purely on Afghanistan\u2019s presumed as\u00adsistance in countering a continued ex\u00adistential threat is, therefore, not enough – particularly in view of Kabul\u2019s reluc\u00adtance in doing so. Diplomatic pursuits notwithstanding, \u2018localized\u2019 contingen\u00adcy plan must be in place to counter the TTP\u2019s \u2018localized\u2019 strategy.<\/p>\n
Courtesy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Najm us Saqib Finally, Pakistan decided to call a spade a spade. Messages sent to the \u2018unrecognized\u2019 interim govern\u00adment in Kabul through diplomatic chan\u00adnels; offering amnesty to all \u2018con\u00adcerned\u2019; blocking trade routes; or sending the undocumented Afghans back home would not help in making the Taliban un\u00adderstand their responsibilities towards the export of terrorism to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[12978],"class_list":{"0":"post-396086","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-article","7":"tag-najm-us-saqib"},"yoast_head":"\n