Asif Durrani, Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan, has said that the notion that security would be established in the region after NATO's withdrawal from Afghanistan, was false.
Durrani highlighted that attacks by the Pakistani Taliban have surged by 65%, with suicide attacks rising by 500% in Pakistan.
According to Dawn newspaper, Pakistan's special representative expressed serious concerns over the escalation of attacks by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from Afghanistan, particularly noting the involvement of Afghan nationals in these attacks.
Speaking at a one-day international conference titled "Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape," jointly organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Durrani underscored that Pakistan has been suffering from developments in Afghanistan since the Soviet Union's invasion.
The Pakistani official emphasised that the post-September 11 world order has had a detrimental impact on Pakistan, stating, "Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion."
Durrani further remarked that Afghanistan has become a "permanent fixture" in Pakistan's regional landscape for over four decades.
Regarding Pakistan's future prospects in the regional context, he said that while "our eastern neighbour (India) is likely to continue to pursue its anti-Pakistani policies, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term”.
He said that Pakistan has suffered more from Afghanistan than in its three wars with India.
However, Durrani said that with deft diplomacy, Pakistan can overcome its problems with Afghanistan, including the challenge of the TTP.
Throughout the two decades of international forces' presence in Afghanistan, Pakistan's backing of the Taliban played a pivotal role in the group's resurgence to power.
Islamabad anticipated that the return of the Taliban to power would lead to a reduction in violence from the Pakistani Taliban and other insurgent factions within its borders. Pakistan especially relied on the support and companionship of the Afghan Taliban.
However, the events of the past two and a half years have revealed that Pakistan's expectation of cooperation with the Afghan Taliban was wrong and the Afghan Taliban are not inclined to abandon their ally, the Pakistani Taliban, anytime soon.
