The former PTI government had engaged TTP militants for talks in the past, and later those talks allowed the militants to strengthen themselves and later create problems when the talks collapsed. Now the rumour has it that Taliban have assured PTI to support its long march
Kabul Times Report
Pakistan is fighting for its security. Militant violence has risen sharply this year, and Islamabad says the groups behind it operate from Afghan soil. Kabul denies this, but the attacks, and the funerals that follow them, are real. In this climate, the reported contacts and exchanges of “good wishes” between PTI figures and the Afghan Taliban administration are poorly timed and hard to defend.
Even reports are circulating that the Taliban have assured to support the PTI in their protest long march, which the party is organizing, creating a host of problems for people and movement in current circumstances.
A record that demands answers
This is not a new instinct. In 2013, Imran Khan proposed allowing the TTP to open an office in Pakistan. More consequentially, in 2021 the PTI government pursued talks with the TTP, facilitated through the Afghan Taliban, and agreed to a temporary ceasefire.
Critics, including officials of later governments, argue that the process came at a heavy price. They say that during and after the talks, hundreds of TTP fighters and their families were allowed back into Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where they regrouped, rearmed and rebuilt their networks. The ceasefire collapsed in late 2022, and the country has since faced a steady rise in attacks on soldiers, police and civilians.
Whatever the intentions, the lesson is plain: concessions to militants were met not with peace but with renewed violence. A party with that record should be the last to open fresh channels to Kabul.
The cost of mixed signals
Leverage is lost. Our soldiers and police are fighting and dying to protect citizens. Every friendly gesture toward Kabul from a domestic party tells the Taliban administration that Pakistan’s resolve can be waited out.
Kabul gets a talking point. Afghan officials reject Islamabad’s complaints and describe the problem as Pakistan’s own. A sympathetic voice inside Pakistan lets them recast a national security grievance as a quarrel with one government.
Dissent and responsibility. Opposition is healthy in a democracy, but its duty is greatest when lives are at stake. Criticising the government’s economic record is politics. Offering Kabul warmth while terrorists strike Pakistani targets is something else, and the public is right to ask which side of the line it falls on.
PTI has a following, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province that has suffered most from terrorism. That is exactly why it should lead the call for unity. It should publicly back the state’s counter-terrorism effort, take any concerns through parliament and official channels, and leave dealings with Kabul to those constitutionally charged with them.
Pakistan’s martyrs gave their lives for the whole country, not for any party. The least we owe them is a united front. Kabul must take verifiable action against armed groups on its soil.