Kabul's myopia

Kabul's quest to reach out to Delhi by antagonising Islamabad is myopic in essence. It is a pity that the landlocked country is behaving in quite an unnatural manner, and is bent upon snubbing all the largesse Pakistan has exhibited all long. The gesture on the part of Pakistan to open trade routes with Afghanistan through the Torkham and Chaman border posts deserves recognition. This benevolence despite the collapse of the talks in Istanbul and two back to back terror attacks seems to have been ignored.

The decision by the Taliban 2.0 to send in its Commerce Minister, Nooruddin Aziz, to India for talks next week testifies contempt for Pakistan, its immediate neighbour which has been home to millions of refugees for decades and with which it shares a 2600 km long border.

This new approach is in need of being studied at length, and Pakistan would be justified in limiting its interaction with another emerging jingoistic neighbour on its western frontier. The point of concern for Pakistan, however, is the security conundrum in the form of two neighbours plotting evil designs against it, and that too by ridiculing International Law and norms of inter-state relations. A case in point is India holding IWT in abeyance and Afghanistan showing utter disregard to international commitments to ensure that its soil is not used for terrorism against neighbouring states.

Afghanistan, perhaps, is nursing an ego-centric attitude towards Pakistan and is unrealistic to the core in defining a serene interaction. The fact is that Kabul is appeasing the terror elements holed up inside Afghanistan, and its inability to shut them out is being wrapped in excuses and allegations. How viable this strategy will prove in the long run is anybody's guess, and confirms the notion that it is endangering regional peace and security through acts of brinkmanship.

There is no harm in warming up with India but it should not be at the expense of bilateral harmony with Pakistan. The reclusive leadership in Kabul must see the bigger picture of regionalism, and be mindful that its acts do not come to infringe security and dynamics of geo-economics.