This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed “New century, new Great Game” carried by the newspaper on Thursday. The writer, Shahab Jafry, deserves commendation for presenting a highly informed perspective on the subject in which he seems to have demonstrated his dexterity in a highly fascinating and meaningful manner.

The writer has argued, among other things, that “the way the Indian government responded to Pakistani airstrikes targeting TTP infrastructure in Afghanistan made it seem like the Karzai or Ghani administrations were still in place. Back then Kabul was Delhi’s number-one regional client only and only because of their animosity toward Pakistan. And neither made any secret of it.”

He’s spot on, so to speak. It was only yesterday, for example, that the Afghan government heaped praise on India as its foreign office said they saw India as a “significant regional and economic partner” after meeting with its most senior foreign ministry official, the highest level talks with Delhi since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

India’s response to the meeting between its Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and acting Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi that took place in Dubai on Wednesday was no less enthusiastic. According to its ministry of external affairs, “India is considering engaging in development projects in Afghanistan and looking to boost trade ties”.

Now it is increasingly clear that India, which has been encouraging, promoting and sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan for quite some time, seems to have stepped up its anti-Pakistan efforts through the Taliban 2.0 and their ideological cousins of TTP. In my view, Pakistan must step up its pressure on belligerent Kabul rulers through a slew of steps, including engaging China to persuade the Afghan government to revisit its approach to Pakistan immediately.

Saleem Reza

Karachi

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025