(MENAFN- Arab Times) One of the world's testier strategic relationships is deteriorating by the day as Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of meddling in its affairs and prolonging a 14-year war by aiding Taleban militants in a cynical quest for influence. Pakistan, which hosts masses of Afghan refugees, denies the charge and says it cannot be expected to monitor the movement of Afghan militants back and forth across border regions barely under the control of Islamabad. This has been a longstanding issue between the two neighbors but a recent uptick in stridency is striking € and dangerous at a time when the Taleban seem to grow more militant and NATO has pulled its combat troops from Afghanistan. It also represents a reversal of the relatively optimistic outreach that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani launched when he took office a year ago.
The relentless continuation of Taleban attacks € and the surge in violence that followed the transfer of security control from NATO to Afghan forces at the end of 2014 € seems to have exhausted Ghani's patience. After a series of deadly attacks earlier this month in the Afghan capital, Ghani accused Pakistan on live TV of being the source of the violence in his country. "The decisions the Pakistani government will be making in the next few weeks will significantly affect bilateral relations for the next decades," Ghani said at the time. "We can no longer tolerate watching our people bleeding in a war exported and imposed on us from outside." Amid the rhetoric, the basic facts are not in dispute: leaders of the Taleban have been based in Pakistan € in Quetta, Peshawar and Karachi € since the US-led invasion in 2001 toppled their regime and forced them to flee.
Recent events also have made clear the extent of Pakistan's influence over the group. Taleban leaders direct the war from Pakistani soil, and send gunmen and suicide bombers, weapons and money across the border every year for the Taleban summer offensive. This year, the warm-weather offensive has been particularly ferocious, following the NATO drawdown. On Tuesday, Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul, Syed Abrar Hussain, was summoned to hear a complaint about border shelling, Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Shekib Mostaghni confirmed. A day later € on Afghan Independence Day € Afghan Ambassador Janan Mosazai was summoned by Pakistan's foreign ministry, where he heard a protest about a "recent spate of Afghan government's allegations and media campaign to malign Pakistan," a ministry statement said. The "allegations undercut mutual confidence and affect the environment of bilateral relations that both countries had been working hard to improve," said Pakistan's foreign secretary, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudry.
Earlier, Ghani had told Kabul-based ambassadors that Pakistan "has three options: freeze, deep freeze or hostility" if it failed to reign in the Taleban, according to three people who were present at the meeting, including two ambassadors. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. "We are at 'freeze'," said one of the ambassadors. "Relations could still go down € for instance, if there is a new bombing in Kabul." The diplomat said that unless the Pakistanis "deliver what they are saying they are willing to do, to combat terrorism and extremism," Afghanistan's allies could ask the United States and the world to classify Pakistan as a provider of "sanctuary to terrorists." Such a classification could lead to diplomatic and financial isolation for Pakistan and complicate its relationship with other partners, like China, as well as global lenders and credit rating agencies. Ghani's recent harsh rhetoric appeared to have been sparked by the apparent failure of a high-level delegation sent last week to Islamabad to work out an "action plan" for ending the war. The group returned emptyhanded. Earlier this year, Ghani sent Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif an eight-point proposal, extracts of which have been seen by The Associated Press, in which he said that both countries were engaged in an undeclared war.
The letter also called on Islamabad show its commitment to peace by placing Taleban leaders under house arrest, withdrawing rights extended to Taleban figures € such as freedom of movement and access for fighters to medical care € and curtailing the activities of the Haqqani network, arguably one of the most brutal terror groups in the region.
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