Pakistan’s clout with Taliban declines: International Crisis Group report

March 4, 2022March 4, 2022

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Leverage Paccistans seem to have declined after the Taliban takeover in mid-August 2021, while new irritants have emerged, according to reports by the International Crisis Group (ICG).

Pakistan’s efforts to secure their borders with Afghanistan, to prevent the entry of refugees and infiltration by Pakistani militants based in Afghanistan, have become a point of dispute, the report said.

The real rejection of the Taliban to disconnect with their Pakistani colleagues, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), even more than Islamabad’s concern.

The Taliban, in fact, at least initially appeared in several ways to dictate Pakistani policy choices, forcing Islamabad to recognize at least several demands in cross-border movements and pressing it to achieve a settlement negotiated with Pakistan Taliban.

“Islamabad has a difficult choice for needed to facilitate Western sanctions and end diplomatic insulation officers,” said the report.

That the influence of Pakistan with the Taliban has decreased after the group seizes power to complicate more things.

Pakistan faces a difficult challenge in forming a policy towards the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Although Pakistan continues to support Afghan allies, the Taliban military takeover and the next diplomatic and economic isolation can make the new Afghan government more than a burden than assets for Islamabad, he added.

Calacized instability and economic difficulties can cause poor Afghans to seek protection in Pakistan. The Islamabad Alliance with the Taliban can also tense relations with the US and other Western countries. Most importantly, the failure of the Taliban to take action against Pakistani militants operating from the Afghanistan region can endanger Pakistani internal security, the report said.