Is Kabul listening?

Relations with Afghanistan are getting into an estranged mode. Islamabad’s reiteration that Kabul should act instantly against the dreaded elements that are holed inside the strife-torn country and operate across the borders in Pakistan with impunity is no news. Rather, it is back to square one, as similar demands were made over the period of last two years, especially since the Taliban 2.0 are at the helm of affairs. But the response has been either inaction, or a rejoinder of intimidation against Pakistan. That is unbecoming of good ties, and the onus is squarely on the Afghan leadership to ensure that Pakistan’s grievances are addressed and movement of non-state actors is checked. Doing so is a must for tranquility and for letting better sense prevail in the region.

The demarche that was served by the Foreign Office on Thursday was over the daredevil attack carried out by an Afghan entity, Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, in Bannu. Ten terrorists made their way into a military cantonment that led to the killing of eight Pakistani soldiers, as well as damage to the garrison. The audacity of the group to claim responsibility should have incited action from Kabul on its own, as the rogue elements are based in Afghanistan. Thus, excuses from Kabul against the TTP and the likes push Pakistan to the wall, and remarks from the Defence Minister that “Islamabad could hit TTP hideouts in Afghanistan’’ are meant for underlining the gravity of the situation. The point should be taken in exigency of the moment, and not read as breach of Afghan sovereignty.

Time for Kabul to understand that its attempts to ignore the sensitivity of the issue is inflicting unparalleled damage not only on interstate relations but also on regionalism. The appreciated aspect is that Pakistan is forthcoming in brokering congeniality and development with Afghanistan, and the gesture was evident in the recent Doha-III dialogue and the SCO moot wherein Islamabad called for collectively recognising the regime and unfreezing its assets for moving ahead. Taliban owe a response in humility.