Opinion | Pak-Afghan Tensions Threaten Regional Peace and Security

Pakistan has long been nurturing terrorism for the purpose of destabilizing the region and, in turn, has overlooked its internal issues and growing security concerns. There has long been distrust, interference, and conflicting ideologies between the two countries. For decades, Pakistan aimed to influence Afghanistan’s political scenario through extremist networks and militancy, a brand of influence. While it was once believed that proxies and ideological cohesiveness could guarantee its interests, it has actually backfired, hurting Pakistan from within and straining relations with Kabul. Today, both nations face the aftermath of decades of miscalculations, while the wider region has slipped into a vortex of insecurity.

The genesis of tension goes back to 1947, when Afghanistan became the only country that voted against Pakistan’s entry into the United Nations. Kabul refused to recognize the Durand Line because it divided Pashtun tribal territories unfairly. This unresolved dispute over the border laid a permanent foundation for mistrust. Afghanistan’s internal political instability, from monarchy to coups, Soviet occupation to civil war, gave Pakistan repeated opportunities to interfere under the belief that controlling Kabul would assure strategic depth. This approach laid the groundwork for decades of interventionist policy.

In the 1980s, Pakistan became the hub for training, arming, and financing Afghan mujahideen, with a patron in the United States, during the Soviet–Afghan war. Success in these operations instilled in the Pakistani mind the perception that militant proxies could secure foreign policy objectives. When the Taliban emerged in the 1990s, the Pakistanis gave them substantial support, anticipating a regime in Kabul that would be compliant with their will. However, reliance on extremism created long-term blowback: the very networks Pakistan nurtured abroad later evolved into groups that would threaten Pakistan itself, a cautionary tale on the dangers of using militancy as a policy instrument.

The most perilous consequence of Pakistan’s policy is the rising profile of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Drawing its ideological inspiration from the Afghan Taliban, the TTP seeks nothing less than the toppling of Pakistan’s democratic system and its replacement with a rigid version of Sharia law. In contrast to the Afghan Taliban, who are primarily preoccupied with running Afghanistan, the TTP aims to dismantle the constitutional arrangements of Pakistan by rejecting modern education, civil institutions, and democratic governance. With the return of the Afghan Taliban in 2021, the TTP was emboldened by finding sanctuary and ideological reinforcement. Pakistani expectations that the Taliban would restrain the TTP proved illusory, aggravating its internal security crisis.

Since 2021, tensions have dramatically increased in Pakistan–Afghanistan relations. TTP attacks in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, have surged. Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of harbouring militants, to which Afghanistan responds that the TTP is Pakistan’s homegrown problem. The border clashes and disputes along the Durand Line are very common, while trade disruptions and diplomatic hostility deepen the mutual suspicion. Instead of stabilizing the region, Pakistan’s approach has intensified conflict and insecurity.

The treatment of Afghan refugees is starkly visible along the humanitarian dimension of the crisis. Harassment, extortion, and forced deportations now greet millions of Afghans who sought protection from war in Pakistan for decades. Police raids, document confiscation, and bribe demands make them live in a condition of fear and helplessness. Families, also comprising children born in Pakistan, are pushed across the border after little notice, with loss of homes, livelihoods, and security. This, according to Pakistan, comes under the pretext of “security,” while in essence, it punishes the most helpless civilians when militants still roam relatively freely. The refugee crisis has widened Afghan resentment, stretched bilateral relations, and created opportunities for extremist recruitment.

Underpinning these issues are a series of ideological and structural contradictions in the Pakistani state. Over the years, it has encouraged extremist Islamist networks abroad while doing little to quell radicalism at home. Extremists find space and support, and innocent civilians and refugees are oppressed. Structurally, too, Pakistan’s crisis is not merely political; it is systemic. A deeply entrenched network of military-bureaucratic elements controls politics, economy, and security, leaving the civilians with practically no authority. Unelected institutions dominate the national policy and result in chronic instability. True stability would require transparency, accountability, civilian governance, and the end of military overreach, both within Pakistan and across the region.

From Afghanistan’s perspective, however, Pakistan’s interference remains one of the main root causes of continuing instability, by empowering the Taliban, disrupting Afghan governance, and allowing cross-border attacks by militant groups. Pakistan’s privileged strategic leverage over peace. This history has engendered deep mistrust in Kabul and among the Afghan population, complicating diplomatic engagement and regional cooperation.

While Pakistan is thus following an adversarial approach against Afghanistan, India has adopted a constructive and humanitarian attitude toward the country. India’s investment in infrastructure, education, health, and governance has contributed to the stability of Afghanistan without interfering in its internal politics. India’s concentration on development, democratic institutions, and human welfare illustrates that it is cooperation, not coercion, which avails long-term stability. Its engagement offers a contrasting approach to using militancy for influence, the plan of Pakistan.

The consequences of Pakistan’s policies are clear: it has become the epicentre of terrorism, indeed nurturing extremist networks, exporting violence, and destabilizing the region. The world should squarely call its duplicity to account. Seeking militancy while oppressing refugees and civilians, Pakistan weakens its own security and destabilizes its neighbour.

Pakistan needs to break this vicious cycle by giving up proxy militancy, reforming governance structures, and embracing civilian-led accountability. Afghanistan needs to ensure that its territory is not used for cross-border attacks, and regional cooperation should revolve around development, humanitarian support, and enduring peace. Stability will come through transparent governance, diplomacy, and respect for human rights. Both nations’ people deserve a region free from fear, extremism, and political exploitation.

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