The recent downward spiral in Afghanistan-Pakistan relations would have been hard to imagine when Pakistani military and civilian leaders welcomed the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul in August 2021.A Taliban government, Islamabad believed, would be friendly to Pakistan and would become a bulwark against any security threats to the country. After all, Pakistan’s military and intelligence services had for more than two decades supported the Afghan Taliban movement.Between 2001 and 2021, this meant a contradictory foreign policy. On the one hand, by supporting the United States’ military intervention in Afghanistan, Pakistan recognised the US-backed governments that ruled the country. At the same time, Pakistan covertly tolerated – and even enabled – the resurgence of the Taliban inside Pakistani territory, which also included cohabitation with other Pakistani fighter groups.Yet, that relationship has now collapsed as the Pakistani air force struck targets in Kabul for the first time this week.An apparent disconnect in their mutual expectations and disrespect for each other’s capabilities make it harder for them to resurrect what they once had.What is at stake for both countries?The Pakistani security establishment, comprised of the army and the country’s powerful military intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is responsible for devising and driving the nation’s Afghan policy.Historically, the army has also exercised significant power over the civilian administrations, even when Pakistan was not under military rule. Advertisement Pakistan has faced a surge …
