Taliban’s broken promises
Since October, Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban have engaged in three rounds of talks aimed at ending the escalating tensions between the two neighbours. The first two meetings, held in…
Problems with the Taliban
The cross-border attacks by terrorist groups with sanctuary on Afghan soil and facilitation from external actors, including India, have compelled Pakistan to adopt a more assertive stance. Pakistan’s recent precision…
Our Taliban problem
A proxy, once given covert state patronage for our perceived strategic interests, celebrated as a symbol of resistance against the West, lauded by wider society for being our David fighting…
Taliban’s new ploy
THE Afghan Taliban regime is living under an illusion. Visiting India, its interim foreign minister recently stated that Afghanistan had defeated the British, the Soviets and the Americans. No, they…
Project Taliban 2.0 failing
AFGHANISTAN is not a victim of any global power play, nor is there any conspiracy being hatched against it. The sole responsibility for the current state of affairs lies with…
Afghans both hopeful, disappointed after Russia’s Taliban recognition
Russia’s decision to formally recognise the Taliban government has been seen as an opening for a stronger economy by some Afghans, while others were sceptical that it would improve their…
Taliban regime recognition
History is subject to strange twists and turns. One such is the decision by Russia to recognise the Afghan Taliban regime, the first and only country so far to do…
The Taliban character
THE Afghan Taliban’s character has remained tricky throughout their history. Their leadership is notorious for shifting positions and breaking its promises. Who knows better than Pakistan’s security institutions, which have…
A lesson from the Taliban
JUST a week before the third anniversary of the Doha Agreement, a high-profile delegation from Pakistan led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif visited Kabul on Feb 22. It was not…
Taliban’s shadow
PAKISTAN and Afghanistan have always had a complex relationship that has been mishandled by both sides. Each has expected the other to make up for the failure of its own…
