It’s time to build better relations with Afghanistan by moving forward beyond strategic depth only. Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan have been security-centric throughout history. Peace with Afghanistan deteriorates when terrorist activities operate in Pakistan from Afghanistan’s soil. Pakistan focuses on a geopolitical perspective, seeing Afghanistan as a strategic depth only. Pakistan’s relationship with Afghanistan has ceased because of the continuous support of the Taliban government to the sanctioned terrorist group, Tehrik Taliban Pakistan. This brings us to question how Pakistan builds a good relationship with Afghanistan, other than security means only?

Pakistan sees Afghanistan through the narrow lens of strategic depth and tries to persuade different governments at different times. This was a very expensive assumption. It did not provide security but only brought trouble in the relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan. During the Cold War era, Pakistan supported Afghanistan and trained Islamic jihadist groups in Pakistan against the Soviet Union.  Also, during the war on terror, Pakistan played a double game, on one side supporting the United States against terrorism and at the same time providing a safe haven to militant groups inside Pakistan.

Through friendly regional states and international organizations, Pakistan should build political pressure on Afghanistan to stop supporting the sanctioned group Tehrik Taliban Pakistan and strengthen diplomatic ties. Pakistan can use its allies like Turkey, Saudi Arab, China, and Iran to pressurize the Taliban government to come to the table for renegotiating the stalled diplomatic talks. Pakistan can also include the United States to build pressure on the Taliban to stop supporting terrorist groups inside Pakistan. As the Taliban government promised in the 2021 Doha agreement that it would not allow to use of its land for terrorist activities in the future.

Pakistan also needs to build a coalition of interests. No regional state can benefit from an unstable region. China, Iran, and the Central Asian republics are concerned about cross-border military activity. Intelligence sharing, joint surveillance, and joint surveillance capabilities can ease the burden that Pakistan currently faces alone. A regional consensus would compel militant groups of think they can exploit each other’s neighbours. Pakistan needs to focus on securing the western border by further tightening the security on the Pak-Afghan border so that terrorists will not cross the border easily.

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutteurus urges the Taliban government to refrain from supporting terrorist groups that affect the security dynamics of neighbouring states, causing internal instability. He also has stressed that the Afghan Defecto government should not allow to use of its land against terrorism in Pakistan and other neighbouring states. The UN Secretary-General, in a conference, specified that the UN was in discussion with the Taliban regarding the use of Afghan territory for spreading terrorism in Pakistan and any other neighbouring countries.

Pakistan needs to change its policy towards Afghanistan by focusing on economic relations along with security measures for peaceful relations with Afghanistan. Afghanistan is not to be perceived as a problem but rather as a passageway to trade, power, and prosperity in the area. Peace must be maintained when both countries rely on mutual financial interests and trade routes. The security trade policy connects stability with economic growth. The main regional projects that Pakistan should focus on are the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India gas pipeline, and the Central Asia South Asia-1000 energy project are important in terms of energy and transport revenues, but neither of them will achieve success without peace in Afghanistan.

The Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India gas pipeline stalled due to the internal instability in Afghanistan.  As this gas pipeline is complete from the Turkmenistan site, but due to the internal instability and funding issues project is progressing slowly in Afghanistan. In the same way, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor ought to be extended to cover Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. As long as the trade in Afghanistan is dependent on Pakistan, and the economic stability in Pakistan is dependent on the stability of Afghanistan, peace will be achieved better through economic cooperation than by using military force.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are both heavily dependent on each other for trade. Pakistan needs access to the Central Asian states for the expansion of its market. Similarly, Afghanistan needs Pakistan for trade liberalization and market expansion. The recent border closure caused about 45 million trade loss to Pakistan, and Afghanistan also faces the same issue. From 2021 onwards, Pakistan has lost over 65 percent of its trade market to Iran, Turkey, and other Central Asian states through Afghanistan due to the hostile relations with Afghanistan since the Taliban government came to power.

Pakistan needs a comprehensive approach, including a geoeconomic, diplomatic engagement, and cultural perspective, along with broader security measures, to build strong, friendly relations with Afghanistan. Pakistan needs to pressurize Afghanistan through other regional states and international organizations to build peaceful diplomatic relations. Along with diplomatic engagement, Pakistan should also focus on economic cooperation by expanding CPEC to Central Asian states through Afghanistan, and in return, provide Afghanistan access to Pakistan’s ports for trade with other states.