India-Taliban engagement riles Islamabad

IT’s hardly a coincidence that Afghanistan-Pakistan relations have hit a new low during Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s ground-breaking visit to India. Pakistan brazenly carried out airstrikes in Kabul on Thursday, the day Muttaqi landed in New Delhi. In retaliation, Afghan forces attacked Pakistani military outposts; 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the fighting, according to a Taliban spokesperson. Calling the attacks by Afghans ‘unprovoked’, Pakistan claims to have seized around 20 Afghan military posts and ‘terrorist hideouts’ in border areas. The clashes have sparked fears of a wider, prolonged conflict that could have serious implications for the entire South Asian region and beyond.