Islamabad, Feb 4 (IANS): Since the time Afghan Taliban took over control in Afghanistan and returned to power in August 2021, it was believed that Pakistan would benefit from the development and would secure peace on its western frontier.

However, with time, it was realised that the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has come as a new and serious challenge to Pakistan’s borders, its security and safety.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have now become poles apart as far as the border tensions, cross-border terrorism and influx of terrorists of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has spread a reign of terror attacks on military installations, air bases, army check posts, targeted killings etc.

Pakistan’s government and the military establishment have made it clear that it will not sit in any negotiations with the TTP or any other terrorists and would root them out through military offensives.

However, Afghan Taliban have been repeatedly urging Pakistan to engage with the Taliban and negotiate a peace deal.

Pakistan has maintained that Afghan Taliban’s support to the Pakistani Taliban and its affiliate groups has become a matter of grave concern for the country’s national security, prompting it to take serious actions against illegal afghan residents living in the country for decades, nabbing down hard on networks working on illegal money laundering through hawala and hundi, cracking down on illegal trade being done through the Pak-Afghan borders and calling on the Kabul administration to stop supporting spread of terrorism from its soil and take stern action against them.

Escalation of border clashes and increased targeted attacks have raised serious concerns over the security situation in the country at a time when general polls are days away.

Such concerns have also been tabled in the upper house (Senate of Pakistan) where resolutions have been passed to delay the elections till the security situation is not handled.

However, the Pakistan military establishment and the caretaker government has maintained that elections will go as planned, insisting that security threats would not hamper the polls.

Just recently, Pakistan and Iran also came on the verge of a confrontation when Iran targeted terrorist hideouts inside Pakistan along the Sistan border areas, while Pakistan responded with a bigger attack on the Iranian side claiming lives of wanted militants belonging to the Baloch separatist groups.

The trouble on the western borders of Pakistan has never seen its normalcy and has stayed volatile. With the Pakistan military establishment refusing to take any consideration of talks with the terrorists, the Afghan Taliban regime is being called out to stop transporting, supporting, facilitating and harboring terrorists on its soil and stand by its commitment to not allow its soil to be used to spread terrorism in other countries.