Taliban Will Not Fight TTP for Pakistan’s Security, Former Afghan Minister Says
Fazl Ahmad Manavi, Afghanistan’s former justice minister, says the Taliban administration is not willing to fight Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan to ensure Pakistan’s security. He also stressed that Islamabad’s influence over the administration has declined since the events of 2021.
In a post on the social media platform X on Friday, 10 Mehr, Manavi wrote that Pakistan once considered itself to have influence over the Taliban administration, but said that relationship is no longer the same and that the Taliban administration has shifted from a proxy group to a ruling power.
He described the Durand Line as one of the points of contention between the two sides, saying Pakistan regards it as the official border, while the issue remains unresolved from the Taliban administration’s perspective. Manavi added that earlier tensions and arrests between the two sides have also affected their current relations.
Afghanistan’s former justice minister said Pakistan’s trade monopoly in the Afghan market has come under challenge, and that in recent years the Taliban administration has created new routes for communication and trade with Iran and other countries. He said the expansion of ties with Iran has posed a challenge to Pakistan’s economic and transit influence, adding that competition over Afghanistan’s mines and economy has entered a new phase with the involvement of China, India, Central Asian countries and the Gulf states.
Manavi also cited the Taliban administration’s closer ties with India as another source of tension with Pakistan. He warned that if security disputes turn into political tensions, Islamabad may reach out to Afghan political opponents and social movements to pressure the Taliban administration.
He also said that in the past, part of the centres for religious decision-making and issuing fatwas were located in Pakistan, but now Kandahar is trying to become the centre of decision-making in this area.
