Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) – Kabul: After the recent Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan and the martyrdom of 10 civilians, including a woman and nine children in Khost province, political experts in this week's interview with AVA, examined the weaknesses of the Pakistani government in the fight against the Islamic Emirate.
Hojjat-ul-Islam Sayed Mohsen Hosseini Balkhi, a political analyst, said that Afghanistan and Pakistan have many things in common in terms of political, social and economic issues, adding that the long border between the two countries and ethnic-religious ties are of special importance in bilateral relations.
He added that Pakistan, as Afghanistan's neighbor, has been hosting a large wave of refugees for years and escalating tensions is not in the interest of either side.
Hosseini Balkhi called Pakistan's recent attacks on Afghanistan "aggressive" and said the continuation of the situation would destroy trust between the two countries and even lead to a complete breakdown of relations.
He recalled that despite Pakistan's repeated requests to reopen the border, the Islamic Emirate refused; Because Islamabad has invaded Afghanistan's territory "without justification".
He believes that the only solution to the tensions between the two countries is "dialogue and diplomatic meetings", not an escalation of war.
He said many terrorist groups active in the region are trained on Pakistani soil and the roots of crises go back to the country.
He said Islamabad was trying to blame Afghanistan for its internal problems and disrupt the process of recognizing the Islamic Emirate by throwing stones.
He said Pakistan's problems with the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) were an internal problem and had nothing to do with Iran and Afghanistan. Hussaini Balkhi called the Pakistani defense minister's remarks against Afghanistan "unconsidered and baseless" and stressed that Islamabad should solve its problems with its own people, not by accusing its neighbors.
Pakistan is in a critical situation
Another political analyst, Abdul Jabbar Akbari, said Pakistan always blamed Afghanistan for its problems. He recalled that in 2017, Donald Trump announced that 79 terrorist groups were operating in Pakistan, which cut off billions of dollars in US aid to Islamabad.
"The country is now in a completely critical situation and the increase in tensions with Afghanistan makes its domestic and international situation more fragile," he said.
Akbari described Pakistan's relations with its neighbors as "unfavorable" and called its invasion of Afghanistan's air and land a flagrant violation of international treaties and conventions, including the Geneva Conventions.
He stressed that Pakistan is not in a position to threaten countries today, as it is facing numerous crises itself.
Akbari described Pakistan's 20-year relationship with the previous Afghan government as "economic, intelligence and political occupation," but said the Islamic Emirate had tried to limit foreign interference and regulate its relations based on national interests in the past four years.
He believes that Pakistan thought the Islamic Emirate would act like a republican government and accept Islamabad's demands, but this was wrong.
He called Pakistan "in a great political-economic panic" and said it wanted to gain points from the world and international organizations by putting pressure on Afghanistan. Akbari stressed that Pakistan's continued attacks on Afghanistan require a decisive response from the Kabul government and that continued conflict will expose Pakistan to the discontent of its people.
Unlike Pakistan, he said, the Afghan people today unitedly support the Islamic Emirate against foreign aggression.
The opponents of the Islamic Emirate cannot sabotage
Akbari believes that Pakistan's use of the Islamic Emirate's opponents to sabotage the current regime will be "fruitless" and could even become a major strategic mistake. He said the current opposition, which ruled the people for about 20 years in the previous government, is now completely hated by the people and even "a five-year-old Afghan child is aware of their betrayals."
He accused Pakistan of strengthening separatist groups and said those who cooperate with Islamabad to destabilize the country would never be accepted by the Afghan people.
Experts also stressed that the opposition and the Pakistani government are not capable of sabotaging the Islamic Emirate and that escalating tensions will only lead to more insecurity in the region.