Pakistan’s Diplomatic Failure After Military Failure

Pakistan’s Diplomatic Failure After Military Failure

Pakistan has been fighting a war with Afghanistan in 2026, but it has not achieved its goals. Instead, the war has hurt Pakistan’s image, damaged its security, and pushed Afghanistan further away from Islamabad.

What Pakistan said it wanted ?

Pakistan claimed that cross‑border terrorists, especially the Tehreek‑e‑Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were using Afghanistan as a base to attack Pakistan. Islamabad said it had to strike inside Afghanistan to destroy these militants and their hiding places.

Pakistan also wanted the Taliban government in Kabul to stop working with India and to depend on Pakistan for security and politics.

Why the war has failed

1. Terror attacks still happening

   • Despite heavy airstrikes and bombardments, terrorist attacks continue in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.

   • This shows that Pakistan’s military operation did not break the TTP network or fully destroy its bases.

2. Afghanistan did not obey Pakistan

   • The Taliban government has stayed firm, even when Pakistan attacked it.

   • Afghan Taliban leaders have publicly said that Pakistan carried out “terrorist” attacks and even reported killing Pakistani soldiers.

   • Afghanistan has also hosted visits from Indian officials, which Pakistan strongly dislikes, proving that Kabul does not follow Islamabad’s orders.

3. Pakistan hurt its own image

   • Pakistani strikes hit Afghan civilians, including at a hospital, killing ordinary people, not just militants.

   • This has made Pakistan look like an aggressor and destroyed any sympathy Afghans may have had for Pakistan’s security worries.

A bad strategy driven by old thinking

• Pakistan still believes in an outdated idea called “strategic depth,” which means it wants a weak, obedient Afghanistan that depends on Pakistan.

• Instead of accepting that Afghanistan can be an independent country, Pakistan tried to use force to control Kabul, which is not realistic in today’s regional politics.

Diplomacy only after failure

Now, after its military campaign has not worked, Pakistan is talking about “strengthening ties” and blaming “foreign forces” for the conflict.

• This looks like a sign that Pakistan knows its war has failed and is trying to save face.

• Instead of starting with diplomacy, Pakistan chose violence first and is now returning to talks from a position of weakness.

The criticism of Pakistan

• Pakistan’s war with Afghanistan is a self‑defeating mistake: it did not stop terrorism but increased hostility with a neighbour that shares the same border, culture, and many ethnic groups.

• Islamabad showed stubbornness and arrogance by thinking it could force the Taliban to surrender to its demands, instead of negotiating as equals.

• Pakistan’s strikes on civilians and hospitals damaged its international image and gave more legitimacy to Afghanistan’s complaints to the world.

In short, Pakistan’s war with Afghanistan has not protected the country; it has exposed Pakistan’s flawed security thinking, hurt its reputation, and locked it into a conflict that it cannot win through force alone.