When the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, Pakistan hoped for a friendly neighbor and a stable frontier. Four years later, that optimism has faded. Relations have soured, trust has eroded, and the Taliban’s growing warmth toward India signals how far Islamabad’s Afghan policy has drifted from reality.
Pakistan’s once-comfortable relationship with the Taliban is
deteriorating — not because of ideology, but because of Islamabad’s own policy.
What was once hailed as “strategic depth” is now fast becoming a strategic
setback.
For decades, Pakistan believed that supporting the Taliban
would ensure border security and limit Indian influence. But since the group’s
return to power, those assumptions have collapsed.
Instead of cooperation, Pakistan now faces increasing
hostility - frequent border clashes, defiant statements from Kabul, and a
resurgent Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) operating from Afghan soil.
The Taliban’s visible tilt toward India is a symptom of
Islamabad’s stance. Pakistan has chosen pressure over diplomacy — closing key
crossings, threatening to expel Afghan refugees, and publicly accusing Kabul of
harboring militants.
These measures have not subdued the Taliban; they have
driven them closer to New Delhi, which offers humanitarian aid and political
legitimacy without direct interference.
The irony is stark. Pakistan, once the Taliban’s strongest
backer, now finds itself isolated, while India — long regarded as an adversary
in Afghan affairs — is quietly re-establishing presence in Kabul. The Taliban,
in turn, are using this outreach to project independence and resist external
dictates.
Islamabad’s Afghan policy remains trapped in outdated
security thinking, viewing Kabul solely through the prism of control.
Unless Pakistan recalibrates its approach — replacing
coercion with constructive engagement — it risks losing whatever influence it
still retains. The “strategic depth” doctrine that once shaped policy has now
turned dangerously shallow.
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