Decades of Support Met with Betrayal: Pakistan's Afghan Dilemma
Geography has destined Pakistan to share a 2,600-kilometer border with Afghanistan, creating a relationship that has tested diplomatic skills for generations. This frontier represents both cultural connection and constant conflict, shaping Pakistan's security landscape through decades of regional turmoil.
Since the Soviet invasion in 1979, Pakistan has served as Afghanistan's most reliable ally. The country opened its borders to millions of refugees during the Soviet occupation and maintained its diplomatic presence in Kabul even after the Taliban takeover in 2021. Pakistan consistently advocated for international assistance to the Afghan people through platforms like the United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Yet this unwavering support has yielded little gratitude. Instead, Afghan territory continues to host terrorist groups including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) elements that regularly attack Pakistani civilians and security forces.
Documented Complicity in Cross-Border Terrorism
The 36th UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team Report from July 2025 confirms what Pakistan has long asserted: Afghan provinces contain training sites and sanctuaries for TTP and Al-Qaida fighters operating under Taliban oversight. The report specifically notes that TTP maintains approximately 6,000 militants who receive continuous logistical and financial support from within Afghanistan.
Pakistani security agencies have documented over 170 infiltration missions involving nearly 4,000 militants crossing from Afghan provinces into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The significant presence of Afghan nationals among these militants points to institutional complicity rather than mere oversight by Kabul's authorities.
The Refugee Paradox: Compassion Versus Security
Pakistan's humanitarian contribution remains unprecedented in modern history. For over four decades, the country has hosted more than five million Afghan refugees, often without adequate international support. These refugees accessed Pakistani schools, healthcare, and economic opportunities that were unavailable in their war-torn homeland.
However, this generosity has created complex social and economic challenges. The strain on urban infrastructure, healthcare systems, and employment markets has been substantial. Some refugee settlements have unfortunately become channels for undocumented migration, smuggling operations, and militant infiltration.
The psychological dimension explains why repatriation efforts struggle. Many Afghan families have built stable lives in Pakistan, where their daughters can attend school and they need not fear constant conflict. Returning to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, with its restrictions on women's education and limited economic prospects, represents a frightening prospect for families who have known relative normalcy for years.
Strategic Challenges and Indian Interference
Afghanistan's duplicity extends beyond terrorism to strategic alignment with India, which has long exploited Afghan instability to encircle Pakistan. New Delhi has invested heavily in cultivating influence across Afghan factions, funding media narratives, and embedding operatives within aid missions.
The current Taliban regime, divided among Kandahar, Kabul, and Khost factions, remains vulnerable to Indian manipulation. Regional intelligence assessments from Turkey and Iran have expressed concern about this dynamic. India's clear objective is keeping Pakistan engaged on its western front, thereby diverting attention from eastern border security and economic stabilization efforts.
From Patience to Prudence: Pakistan's New Doctrine
Pakistan's previous policy of engagement through religious scholars, tribal jirgas, and official delegations has yielded limited results. Initiatives like Mufti Taqi Usmani's 2022 peace mission and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's 2023 security dialogue met with deflection and denial from Afghan authorities.
The surge in terrorist incidents since mid-2025 demonstrates the futility of expecting unilateral restraint. Pakistan now shifts toward a Doctrine of Strategic Prudence based on five key principles:
- Dialogue without dependence—engaging while avoiding enablement
- Regulation with compassion—securing borders while ensuring humanitarian dignity
- Economic leverage—using trade as compliance instrument rather than concession
- Regional partnerships—reviving trilateral cooperation with China, Iran, and Central Asia
- Narrative control—documenting Pakistan's 40-year humanitarian role while exposing Kabul's duplicity
Pakistan's border fencing initiative represents one of the most ambitious security projects in national history. However, complete closure of this rugged, tribal territory remains impractical given centuries of shared culture and commerce. The solution lies in controlled permeability through biometric verification, surveillance systems, and transforming border crossings like Torkham and Chaman into structured trade corridors.
Pakistan must clearly distinguish core from peripheral interests in its Afghan policy. Securing borders, neutralizing cross-border terrorism, preventing Afghan soil from hosting hostile entities, countering Indian strategic ingress, and promoting economic connectivity that benefits western provinces represent non-negotiable priorities.
Afghanistan's stability isn't a favor Pakistan grants but a necessity it requires. However, stability cannot be built on illusions. A regime that shelters terrorists and permits external manipulation cannot claim sovereignty while exporting insecurity to its neighbors.
Geography remains permanent, but Pakistan's approach must evolve. The measure of Islamabad's strategic maturity will be its ability to transform a turbulent frontier into a manageable boundary defined by controlled coexistence rather than perpetual conflict.
