Chapter 2 continues…

Pakistan’s strategic objectives with respect to Afghanistan have remained constant over the years. The foremost objective of Pakistan in Afghanistan has been to cultivate a pro-Pakistan anti- India Islamist Pashtun-dominated client regime in Kabul that could safeguard its interests. The goal of a friendly regime in Afghanistan has, in fact, remained constant since independence and has been inherited from the colonial era. It has been acknowledged that a pliant or openly pro-Pakistan regime, though preferable, may be impossible to achieve and, thus, Pakistan would be satisfied with a reasonably friendly regime as long as it is sensitive to Pakistan’s interests and security needs regarding India and the Pashtunistan issue.

This objective has driven Pakistan's Afghan policy, at least since the mid-1970s and it is only the means to achieve this end that have undergone a change over the years. The shifting of support from Hekmatyar to the Taliban in the mid- 1990s was a clear example of Pakistan’s ‘tactical adjustments’ in its Afghanpolicy.
Even post-2001, Pakistan’s Afghan policy has not undergone a drastic change. Concerns over India’s influence in Afghanistan—as described above—the Pashtunistan issue and the possibility of Afghanistan becoming a haven for anti-Pakistan elements continuetoshapeitsAfghanpolicy.

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Pakistan though highly reluctant to accept US demands, quickly capitalised on the situation and chose to become an ally of the US in the ‘Global War on Terror.’ There was a fear in Pakistan that the US would react violently, like a “wounded bear” and US President George Bush’s “with us or against us” speech had convinced Pakistan that it may have to bear the brunt of American retaliation as well. Moreover, Pakistan calculated that its participation in this US initiative would give it an opportunity to distance itself from the image of a patron state of militancy and secure political legitimacy and financial assistance from the international community. Such calculations had even been made by Gen Zia at the time of the Soviet invasion.

To be continued…