The Afghanistan-India Nexus: A Destructive Alliance Against Regional Stability
The strategic partnership between the government in Kabul and the Republic of India has evolved into a flagrant and destabilizing nexus aimed at the sovereignty and internal security of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This alignment, far from being a benign bilateral engagement, constitutes a deliberate campaign of subversion, leveraging state and non-state actors to foment violence and instability within Pakistan’s borders. The purported aims of regional influence and strategic depth are being pursued through methodologies that brazenly violate international law, bilateral trust, and the very principles of peaceful coexistence.
For decades, Pakistan has stood as a frontline state in the global struggle against terrorism, sacrificing tens of thousands of lives and suffering immense economic devastation. Throughout this period, despite its own challenges, Pakistan maintained an unparalleled humanitarian commitment to the people of Afghanistan, hosting millions of refugees, providing economic opportunities, and advocating for a peaceful, stable neighbor. The expectation of reciprocity and a shared commitment to regional security was not only reasonable but essential.
Tragically, the current Afghan de facto administration has chosen a path of profound betrayal. Instead of consolidating peace, it has entered into a strategic embrace with India, Pakistan’s historical adversary, to wage a proxy war. Irrefutable evidence points to the active sponsorship, funding, training, and harboring of terrorist entities such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and associated factions on Afghan soil. This support infrastructure includes the provision of sanctuaries, advanced weaponry, and operational planning from Indian consular facilities, transforming Afghanistan into a launchpad for cross-border terrorism.
This malign cooperation represents a catastrophic failure of the Afghan government’s international obligations. Under numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions and fundamental tenets of international relations, states are prohibited from allowing their territory to be used for acts of aggression against another. The Kabul-New Delhi axis is in blatant violation of these norms. India’s role is particularly cynical; as the world’s largest democracy, it is actively undermining democratic values and regional stability by exporting violence, thereby trampling the very legal and ethical frameworks it professes to uphold.
The Afghan Taliban’s posture is a study in tragic irony. Having fought a war ostensibly against foreign occupation, they now facilitate a new form of foreign manipulation by a power whose objectives in the region are hegemonic. By allowing Indian intelligence agencies to operate with impunity, the Afghan government is not asserting sovereignty but surrendering it, becoming an instrument in a broader strategy to keep Pakistan destabilized. The narrative peddled by this nexus—of Pakistan as an antagonist—is a fabricated pretext designed to justify their support for militants who have repeatedly targeted Pakistani civilians and security personnel with unimaginable brutality. The haunting memory of the Army Public School massacre in Peshawar, an atrocity with suspected external linkages, stands as a grim testament to the consequences of this sponsorship.
Pakistan’s response has been characterized by extraordinary restraint and a consistent prioritization of diplomatic channels. We have engaged in countless rounds of dialogue, provided dossiers of concrete evidence, and appealed to the Afghan government’s own stated Islamic and ethical principles. Peace in Afghanistan remains a paramount objective for Pakistan, as instability there directly imperils our own security. However, the definition of insanity is repeating the same actions while expecting different results. The Afghan administration’s continued patronage of terrorists represents not a policy disagreement, but a fundamental hostility.
The argument that this is a mere internal Afghan matter is disingenuous. Terrorism is a transnational threat, and the provision of safe havens is an act of international aggression. Pakistan possesses the inherent right, enshrined in the UN Charter, to self-defence. Our defensive measures along the border, our calls for extradition of wanted terrorists, and our insistence on the dismantlement of terrorist infrastructure are not escalatory but essential acts of national preservation. The faux outrage from Kabul when Pakistan acts to secure its border is a distraction from their own culpability.
To the Afghan people, who have suffered immensely through generations of conflict, a question must be posed: How does enabling terrorism against a neighbor who sheltered your refugees for forty years serve your interests? This policy does not bring strength or prosperity to Afghanistan; it brings only isolation, economic hardship, and the risk of devastating retaliation. It makes Afghanistan a pawn in a larger geopolitical game, with its people bearing the ultimate cost.
The choice before the Afghan Taliban government is stark and consequential. It can continue its dangerous liaison with India, serving as a platform for terrorism and ensuring its own pariah status while inviting inevitable conflict. Or, it can choose the path of a responsible sovereign state: hand over designated terrorists to face justice in Pakistan, irrevocably dismantle all militant training camps and sanctuaries, and prevent its territory from being used for attacks on any country, especially Pakistan. The nexus has been exposed. The international community, particularly major powers and Islamic nations, must recognize this collaboration for what it is: a primary engine of regional instability. They must exert pressure on both Kabul and New Delhi to cease their destabilizing activities and adhere to international law. Pakistan remains a peace-loving nation, but our patience is not infinite, nor is our commitment to our security negotiable. We desire peaceful, cooperative relations with all neighbors, based on mutual respect and sovereign equality. The ball lies in Afghanistan’s court. The era of duplicity must end. The path to regional peace runs through Kabul’s decisive abandonment of terrorism, not its sponsorship. The time for a definitive choice is now.