Taliban Taliban's Government in Afghanistan and the Dilemmas of Pakistan

Abstract

The Taliban resistance against the various Afghan governments continued in the post-2001 period which finally culminated in their agreement with the United States of America (USA) for the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan in February 2020 and the subsequent capture of Kabul from President Ashraf Ghani in September 2021. Pakistan once again played a pivotal role in this US-Taliban agreement with a hope to achieve its regional objectives of discouraging Afghanistan from its claim on Durand Line, countering India to seek further influence in Afghanistan, tackling the menace of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) inside Pakistan and taking benefits from regional economic and commercial developments. To add to the surprise of Pakistan, the Taliban government repeated the Afghan claim on Durand Line as an international border, provided active support to TTP, allowed India to complete the ongoing projects and also failed to help Pakistan in realizing its dream of accessing the Central Asian markets on account of sanctions on their government. This research paper seeks to answer the question that what dilemmas Pakistan faces after the establishment of Taliban government in Afghanistan once again after a gap of 20 years.