“If you justify attacking Afghanistan by claiming you are targeting your enemy there, then why do you object when India targets its enemy in Bahawalpur and Muridke?” JUI-F head Fazlur Rehman said.
Pakistan massively enhanced the funding for Islamists in Afghanistan, hoping to bury ethnic nationalism. That strategy has now backfired spectacularly.
Pakistan failed to understand the fiercely independent psyche of the Afghans and Pashtun nationalism, which has dominated politics in Afghanistan since its emergence in 1747.
Pakistan aimed to convey a message to the West about its counterterrorism efforts and show China that it has control over the CPEC routes. However, both messages fell flat.
This confrontation looks subcontracted—escalation to re-establish Pakistan's indispensability to outside capitals while squeezing Afghanistan back under an old paradigm.
The Wakhan Corridor, located in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, borders PoJK, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and China’s Xinjiang — once linking these regions through the strategic Silk Road.
After strikes, Afghanistan withdrew from a planned tri-nation series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Strikes reported hours after Pakistan and Taliban representatives agreed to extend a 48-hour truce.
The Afghan names have become a thorn in their side, since Pakistan now drives the narrative that the Taliban is essentially fighting a proxy war against the country for India.
General MM Naravane’s memoir—Four Stars of Destiny—reveals that he was left hanging by political leadership for more than two hours as Chinese tanks drove towards Indian positions.
The key to fighting a war successfully, or even launching it, is a clear objective. That’s an entirely political call. It isn’t emotional or purely military.
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