Hostility at its Worst

More than 1,500 violent incidents in the first 10 months of this year have killed at least 924 people, including 570 law enforcement personnel and 351 civilians, in Pakistan

- SHANTANU MUKHARJI

Pakistan and Afghanistan's ties are at their lowest point today. On December 23, after nearly 15 months of strained relations, Pakistan dispatched a high-level delegation led by Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq, the country's special representative, to Kabul. The visit was part of a renewed effort to reset troubled relations with Afghanistan.

In the past year, Pakistan severed contacts with Afghanistan, apparently to pressure the interim Afghan government into taking action against the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates. According to security experts, Pakistan even refrained from appointing a special envoy for Afghanistan for several weeks after Ambassador Asif Durrani stepped down in September last year. However, the government and decision-makers revised their strategy and persuaded Ambassador Sadiq to return as Pakistan's Afghan troubleshooter. Sadiq, a veteran diplomat, had previously held the same position but resigned after developing differences with the previous establishment over the policy of holding direct talks with the TTP. His reappointment signaled an effort to prioritize diplomacy. Within days of his return, Sadiq facilitated a meeting between the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and the Afghan acting ambassador in Islamabad. Shortly afterward, he traveled to Kabul to end the prolonged diplomatic impasse.