PAKISTAN’S WAY(S) OF PURSUING INTERESTS IN AFGHANISTAN AFTER THE RISE AND RULE OFTALIBAN, 1994-2001
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The rise and success of Taliban in Afghanistan shocked the world in general and neighbors in particular. Their command and control system was effective beyond imaginations and their operational capabilities were surprising for the armies ofmany developed nations. The negative side that surfaced was their establishment of strict Shari’agovernment whichturned them anti-human in the eyes of the people. The regional powers were also caught in a difficult situation to adjust to the new reality. Pakistan as one among them was already involved in the Afghan affairs. It had either to continue betting on the Afghan Mujahideen or to support the Taliban for having a friendly government in Afghanistan. It opted for the second choice and put weight behind the Taliban despite criticism from the stake holdersin Afghanistan. It continued shieldingthe friendly Taliban government to prevent India from getting foothold in Afghanistan and to gain access to Central Asia. These expectations, however, proved lofty because the Taliban acted on their own and paid little heed to Pakistan’s interests. The situation changed after the American attack in 1998 and the distances also widened between Pakistan and Taliban but the former did not gave up its pro-Taliban policy before the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. Under US pressure, Pakistan joined the Global War on Terrorism against its Afghan favorites. The current research study descriptively analyzes the interests of Pakistan in Afghanistan and endeavor to answer the question that in what way(s) Pakistan pursued its interests in Afghanistan after the rise and rule of Taliban, and was it successful?
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Ahmar, D. M. (2006, September 30). The Growing Trust Deficit. Dawn.
bhatnagor, Z. S. (2007). Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations and the Indian Factor. Pakistan Horizon, 60(2), 159-174.
Cohen, S. P. (2004). With Allies like This: Pakistan and the War on Terrorism. In A. Garfinkle (Ed.), A Practical Guide to Winning War on Terrorism (pp. 103-116). Stanford, California: Hoover Press.
Emadi, H. U. (1997). State, Revolution, and Super Powers in Afghanistan. Karachi: Royal Book Company.
Gannon, K. (2005). I is for Infidel: from Holy War to Holy Terror: 18 Years inside Afghanistan. New York: Public Affairs Publishers.
Gul, I. (2002). The Unholy Nexus: Pak-Afghan Relations Under the Taliban. Lahore: Vanguard Books (Pvt.) Ltd.
Hayton, B. (2002). Pipelines and poppies. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 18(1), 71-74.
Hekmatyar, G. (2004). Secret Plans, Open Faces. (S. F. Yunas, Ed., & S. Z. Taizi, Trans.) Peshawar: Area study Center, Peshawar University.
Hilali, A. Z. (2012-2013). Pakistan’s foreign policy objectives in the post-September 11, 2001 era. Strategic Studies, 32-33(4 & 1), 160-185.
Hoffman, R. B. (2001). Crisis of Impunity: The Role of Pakistan, Russia and Iran in Fueling the Civil War. New York: Human Rights Watch.
Jones, R. W. (2004). America's War on Terrorism: Religious Radicalism and Nuclear Confrontation in South Asia. In M. M. Satu P. Limaye (Ed.), Religious Radicalism and Security in South Asia (pp. 273-319). Honolulu, Hawaii: Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.
Khan, I. A. (2007). Understanding Pakistan’s Pro-Taliban Afghan Policy. Pakistan Horizon, 60(2 ), 141-157.
Maley, W. (Ed.). (2002). Fundamentalism Reborn?: Afghanistan and the Taliban. Lahore: Vanguard Books.
Marsden, P. (2002). The Taliban: War and Religion in Afghanistan. London: Zed Books Ltd.
Matinuddin, K. (1999). The Taliban Phenomenon: Afghanistan 1994-1997. London: Oxford University Press.
Meher, J. (2004). America’s Afghanistan War: The Success that Failed. Delhi: Kaplaz Publications.
Murshed, S. I. (2006). Afghanistan: The Taliban Years. London: Bennet & Bloom Publishers.
Niaz, I. (2004). The Taliban and Pakistan’s National Security Policy. Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, 25(1), 133-144.
Nojumi, N. (2002). The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War and the Future of the Region. New York: Palgrave Publishers.
Rashid, A. (2000). Taliban: Islam Oil and the New Great Same in Central Asia. London: I.B Tauris Publishers.
Rifaat Hussain, J. N. (2002). Anatomy of a Conflict: Afghanistan and 9/11; Pakistan’s Afghan Policy . New Delhi: Roli Books.
Roy, O. (1996). Rivalries and Power Plays in Afghanistan: The Taliban, the Shari’a and the Pipeline. Cairo: Middle East Report.
Saikal, A. (1998). Afghanistan’s Ethnic Conflict. Survival Journal, 40(2), 114-26.
Sarwar, L. (2015). Pakistan as a Frontline State in War Against Terrorism: Cost & Benefit Analysis. Journal of Political Studies, 22(1), 43-62.
Siddiqi, A. R. (2007, January 28). What Lies ahead for the Fateful Triangle? Dawn.
Sreedar (Ed.). (1997). Taliban and the Afghan Turmoil: The Role of USA, Pakistan and China. New Delhi: Himalya Books.
Sultana, R. (2006). The Past and Present Pak-Afghan Relations. Journal of Asian Civilization, XXIX(2).
Toru, D. F.-u.-R. (2005). Talibanization of Pakista“: "A Case Study of TMSM” . Peshawar: New Awan Printers.
Weinbaum, M. G. (2006). Afghanistan and Its Neighbors: An Ever Dangerous Neighborood. Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace.
Zafar, Q. F. (2014). New Great Game: Players, Interests, Strategies and Central Asia. South Asian Studies, 29(2), 623-652.