Relations Among Pakistan and Afghanistan

It would be tantamount to Pakistan meddling with the internal affairs of an independent neighboring state if it opposed Afghanistan's bilateral relations with India. However, Afghanistan will be equally unfair if it holds Pakistan's relations hostage to India's or any other country's interactions with it.

During his time as president, Hamid Karzai said that India was Afghanistan's "best friend," which set off alarm bells in Islamabad. When he said that Pakistan and Afghanistan were like "conjoined twins" during a visit to Islamabad soon after, he played the game with more skill. That could be a political declaration. However, Pakistan and Afghanistan are virtually inseparable due to the numerous layers and cross-layers of historical, cultural, religious, and ethnic ties that connect the two countries.

In addition, Pakistan should not discriminate against Afghans who speak Persian in addition to Pashto. Pashtoons, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, Turkmen, or Baloch communities in Afghanistan are responsible for any linguistic or ethnic rivalries or conflicts. They should all be treated equally by Pakistan. As for Pakistani Pashtoons—two times as many as those in Afghanistan—they have been acting as a binding force between the two neighbors, regardless of whether anyone accepts it or rejects it out of arrogance. This includes Pakistanis of Afghan descent. Humans will soon defy the false political barriers that artificially divide them under false pretenses.

Prior to the first Afghan war, relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan had remained tense for the most part. It should not come as a surprise that Afghanistan had better relations with India, Pakistan's declared adversary. My best friend is the enemy of my enemy. Every nation, at least in the Third World Asian and African regions, has a strange relationship with its next-door neighbor while getting along well with the one behind it. This is something that is both psychological and natural. Or perhaps this is a stage in the development of relations between states. Every state in medieval Europe was ensnared in a never-ending conflict with another because of their shared prejudices and animosities. But after the Renaissance, political enlightenment made their differences into friendships.

History is rotating in a spiral fashion. The world was in complete disarray when the Cold War ended. However, things are now improving gradually again. In less than a century, people will only be amused by our tales of killing one another for cultural, political, or religious differences. An ideal society can still compete for diversity in all spheres of life. Humans will soon defy the false political barriers that artificially divide them under false pretenses. History moves in its own time. Geography is another factor. Geopolitics has ceased. Geoeconomics holds the key to the future.

The civilisations of Pakistan and Afghanistan meet at the confluence. These two points cannot be bypassed in any attempt to connect Central Asia to South Asia, the Far East, the Middle East, or Africa, nor can any of them refuse to provide a link or transit to the other. The tumultuous years of the first Afghan war had brought the two nations' populations closer together. They had blended together to the point where hundreds of thousands of Afghans have a lot in common by the second Afghan war. Today, families of hundreds of thousands of Afghans are split between Pakistan and Afghanistan. They raise their children, get an education, and conduct business in Pakistan if they have ancestral homes and assets in Afghanistan. Those Afghans who were born in Pakistan and spent their formative years there would find it difficult to completely give up their shared affinities with their Pakistani neighbors and friends.

A significant number of Afghans were dislocated once more as a result of the Taliban's ascension and the withdrawal of American troops. The majority of them have no easier shelter than Pakistan. The accusation of interference and aiding separatist or jihadist tendencies on the other side of the political divide is reciprocal and equally harmful for both sides.

After the Taliban's rise in Afghanistan, terrorist attacks in Pakistan have skyrocketed. The perpetrators' cross-border infiltration must be stopped by the Taliban. Pakistan's sincere efforts to persuade the United States to release Afghanistan's frozen assets and to engage the international community must be reciprocated by the Taliban and Afghans.

Agha Rafiullah, a Balochistan-based PPP member of Pakistan's National Assembly, lamented the harsh treatment of Afghan visitors by Pakistani law enforcement agencies last week. He demanded more amenities for Afghan traders, who, according to him, desired a link between Pakistan and their economy. A Jamaat-e-Islami MNA from Chitral, Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrli, called for facilities at the border for Afghans who wanted to go to Pakistan for medical treatment or other reasons. As a result, Pakistanis and Afghans share a future. The two nations and their people would benefit more if this reality were accepted sooner by our states and their leaders.