A very high-powered delegation went to Kabul, and the meetings it held were equally were equally high-powered. Pakistan’s delegation, was headed by Defence Minister Khwaja Asif and included the DGICI, as well as the Foreign Secretary, the Special Envoy on Afghanistan and the Charge d’affaires in Kabul. It had meetings with the Afghan Interim Government, with the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Defence, Foreign and Interior Ministers. As the Taliban regime lacks international recognition, the visit provided positive optics, especially as two issues dear to the international community were discussed, terrorism and border fencing.
The Afghan side was reassuring, and seemed to be firm that its soil would not be used for more of the 58 attacks. Killing 70 people, which have been launched by the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan since its talks with Pakistan ended in November, leading it not to cancel its ceasefire with the Pakistan Army. The TTP had got sanctuaries in Afghanistan under the Taliban, which allowed it to step up its activities. It is significant that the talks also touched on the Islamic State-Khorasan, (IS-K) which is known to have carried out attacks in Pakistan, apart from its daring attacks in Afghanistan, where it is the main challenger to the Taliban.
The Pakistan government should realized that the visit might not have achieved anything tangible, because the Taliban government may be powerless to deliver anything, not because it is unable. If Pakistan hopes to address the problem of heightened terrorism, it needs to do so on this side of the Durand Line, by better intelligence, and catching terrorists before they commit their crimes, thus foiling them. The solution of the problem is to be sought in Pakistan, though it will be assisted if the Taliban start living up to their protestations. However, as their government in Kabul has still not dealt successfully with the IS-K on their own territory, to expect any help from it, beyond a denial of safe havens to the TTP, is perhaps too much. Still, if TTP operatives did not have Afghanistan to run back after striking targets here, it would an improvement in a situation over which ever thicker and ever darker clouds seems= to be gathering, above and beyond the dire economic situation, about which the Afghan ministers did not fail to remind the Pakistan delegation.
