18th Dec, 2022. 10:43 am

Our Afghan problem

A mere four days after Afghanistan ‘apologised’ for last Sunday’s attack, that claimed seven lives and left 16 others injured in Chaman, at least one person was killed while 15 were injured in a second tragic attack by the Afghan border forces. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the heavy gunfire and artillery shelling by the Afghan forces on December 11 was “unprovoked”, rightly terming the attack an act of “uncalled-for aggression”. Conflicting reports suggested that the incident occurred as smugglers tried to sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan with the blessings of the Afghan Taliban, while others associated it to the construction of Pakistani security checkpoints allegedly on Afghan territory, a bizarre charge given Pakistan’s standard policy of respecting the Durand Line.

Last Sunday’s disturbance came hardly a month after a similar attack resulted in the martyrdom of one Pakistani security personnel, and injuries to two others. The incident had resulted in the closure of Bab-e-Dosti (Friendship Gate) for several days, subsequently suspending all cross-border trade and other activities. Such incidents were the bane of Pak-Afghan relations during the Ashraf Ghani-led government, and unfortunately continue to test Pakistan’s patience even now. Yes, there was no justification of the US-backed Afghan government’s hostile actions in the past as there remains none for continued Afghan hostility when the Taliban are acting as the lords and masters of the war-ravaged country.

The Afghan Taliban must keep in mind that Islamabad is one of the very few capitals that has been constantly trying to help Kabul in its attempts to end Afghanistan’s international isolation. Yet, the current rulers of Kabul, just like the ones before them, are constantly trying to undermine the Durand Line. In recent weeks, the Afghans have dismantled portions of the fence at several places. This is being done under the flawed contention that the fence bars free movement of the divided Pashtun tribes. The aim also is to keep fluid the movement along the Durand Line, which Kabul’s successive rulers do not want to accept despite being a globally-recognised international border between the two countries.

The attacks emanating from the Afghan soil show that our western frontiers continue to remain hostile, and all expectations of anti-Pakistan forces not being allowed to use it as a jumping board for instigating terrorism inside Pakistan under the Taliban rule have come to naught. As the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, extremist sub-nationalist and religious groups continue to operate on Afghan soil with impunity, Pakistan needs to give a clear message to Kabul that the continued violation of the Durand Line will not be seen as business as usual. Islamabad should also assert pressure on the Afghans to bar non-state actors and hostile intelligence agencies from using Afghanistan for regional or global terrorism.

At the same time, Pakistan needs to protect the fence – a project carried out in one of the most hostile terrains of the world through great human effort and sacrifice. Smugglers, their backers and terrorists should not be allowed to bring it down. Border management, as it should exist between any two countries, must be ensured even if by use of force.

This situation however, begs bigger questions. How is Pakistan going to move forward with its Afghan foreign policy now? What will be the nature of Islamabad’s engagement with Kabul? Will the country recalibrate its relations with Afghanistan? These are questions that Pakistan will have to address sooner or later, keeping in mind that appeasing the aggressor cannot be described as a ‘policy’. The Afghan Taliban must also take control of the situation. There is no point in asking the world to recognise the Kabul regime if it cannot keep its house in full control, or is unable to discipline its troops. What message does the Taliban government think it gives to the world when it repeatedly fails to address the concerns even of its most time-tested ally? Legitimacy is earned through effective diplomacy, not through half thought-out policies of violence and misadventure. The latter may appear to be the easier way out, but the Afghan Taliban will be at their most foolish if they think this policy will bear fruit.