PAKISTAN’S leadership has lately been engaged in a war of words with the Afghan Taliban. Our frustration is understandable. The Taliban regime in Kabul was not doing enough to stop the TTP from using Afghan soil to launch terrorist attacks against the people of Pakistan. The National Security Committee meeting on Jan 2, without naming Afghanistan, cautioned that “no country will be allowed to provide sanctuaries and facilitation to terrorists and Pakistan reserves all rights in that respect to safeguard her people”. One of our ministers was, however, more explicit in his warnings to the Kabul regime. Not surprisingly, there was an instant retort from the Taliban government. The net result is a vitiation of the environment for bilateral engagement.
A month ago, we witnessed a similar exchange with India at the level of foreign ministers while both were in New York. That exchange foreclosed any prospect of unfreezing bilateral relations with India, which were already at their lowest ebb.
Granted that sometimes harsh words are unavoidable to convey an unambiguous message to the intended audience. However, in the process, this also whips up domestic sentiment and raises expectation levels which often remain unmet and create public frustration.