WHILE Pakistan faces a major problem in the form of terrorists from Afghanistan infiltrating the country, unilaterally targeting militants on Afghan soil may create more problems than it solves. The defence minister has again discussed the option of ‘hot pursuit’ of TTP terrorists into Afghanistan; this is not the first time such a suggestion has been made. While talking to Voice of America, Khawaja Asif said Pakistan could strike targets in Afghanistan as Kabul was “exporting” terrorism to Pakistan. He also observed that while the TTP was operating from across our western border, a few thousand militants were active “within the country”.
Considering the sensitivities involved, the defence minister should have been careful in his choice of words. As mentioned, cross-border terrorism is a major threat to our security, while ties with the Taliban regime in Kabul are hardly cordial. But that does not mean that Pakistan should publicly advocate for violating the territorial sanctity of a sovereign country. There are two major reasons for this. Firstly, if Pakistan were to take major unilateral action against militants across the border, ties with Afghanistan would very quickly go south. It will not be in this country’s interest to lose whatever goodwill remains for Pakistan in Kabul. Secondly, using our justified concerns about cross-border terrorist havens to initiate hot pursuit may give other regional states ideas about violating our sovereignty, in the name of targeting ‘militants’. For example, Indian leaders — including the current prime minister — have boasted about striking terrorists ‘in their homes’, a thinly veiled threat to Pakistan. This country has, of course, correctly said on record that no one should harbour any illusions of violating its territorial integrity. Promoting the concept of hot pursuit then should be discouraged. The terrorist threat is real, and the TTP and other malign actors cannot be given free rein to cause havoc in Pakistan. But the best options available to the state include raising the issue with the Afghan Taliban, and strengthening our internal security. Pakistan must keep up the pressure on the Taliban to remove the TTP and other terrorist groups from our borders, and prevent them from staging attacks across the frontier. Moreover, as the defence minister noted, thousands of militants are active on our soil. Eliminating this threat should be the prime objective of the newly announced Azm-i-Istehkam campaign.
Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2024