Pakistani soldiers at a checkpoint on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman (French)

Kabul -

Since the overthrow of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, relations with Afghanistan have worsened to the point that the interim government headed by Anwar Kakar - and on the recommendation of the Pakistani army - expelled Afghan refugees and closed the main crossings with Kabul, which affected the living and economic situation in both countries, and Islamabad lost Its trade with Central Asia, Afghanistan and the world.

But Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaki told Al Jazeera Net that his government is looking forward to building strong and good relations with the new Pakistani government led by the new Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Political analysts believe that the Pakistani army is authorized to build relations with Kabul, and that it manages the Afghan file and not the civilian government that implements what the army deems correct regarding Afghanistan, so no radical development is expected in relations between the two countries.

Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan revolve around the issue of the Pashtun population on both sides of the Durand Line, and the Taliban movement is of great importance in the Afghan file to Pakistani decision-makers, as the current Afghan government - like other previous governments - inherited the problem of this dividing line in the disputed region between the two countries. Which affected the politics of Kabul and Islamabad.

Army authority

Analysts attribute this to the fact that Pakistan's security and foreign policy is determined by the security and military services. Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the arrival of General Zia al-Haq to power in Pakistan, the Afghan file has been handed over to the Pakistani army and its intelligence.

Former Pakistani Senator Afrasiab Khattak told Al Jazeera Net that the Pakistani army is the one managing the Afghan file and the civilian government cannot play a role in building relations with Afghanistan.

He adds that for 4 decades, Pakistani generals have been determining their country's strategy towards Afghanistan, "and I do not think that there will be any change in Pakistani politics. If there is a change, it will be very normal and at the level of protocol only. These relations will not witness a change in the basic discourse and the same old policy will continue." .

For his part, Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Al Jazeera Net that the new Pakistani government must reconsider its positions towards Afghanistan, and pay attention to trade and facilitating movement between the two countries. He stresses, "We want to establish good relations with Islamabad in the economic and diplomatic fields."

Pakistan was one of the three countries that recognized the first government formed by the Taliban at the end of the 1990s, but a major shift occurred in the Pakistani position on the movement after the events of September 11, 2001, and former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf stood with the United States in its war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. .

Zabihullah Mujahid calls on the new Pakistani government to reconsider its positions towards Afghanistan (Al Jazeera)

Handle with caution

In turn, writer and political researcher Karim Nazari explains to Al Jazeera Net that “after the arrest of a large number of Taliban leaders in Pakistan and their extradition to the United States, this affected the relationship between the movement and Islamabad, and the current government views Pakistan as an untrustworthy ally, so it deals with it with caution.” "And that it can cause problems and chaos in Afghanistan."

Experts on Afghan affairs believe that the current government in Pakistan is a coalition formed from two parties that enjoy a good relationship with the Pakistani military establishment, and that it cannot ignore the army’s position on Afghanistan, and all it can do is change the way it deals with Kabul.

In this context, former Afghan Deputy Ambassador to Pakistan Zardasht Shams told Al Jazeera Net that the new Pakistani government emerged from the alliance between two parties, and that it will be busy with internal issues and will think about preserving their alliance and will not choose positions that will disturb the army.

Political analysts believe that the position of the Muslim League Party, led by former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is the position of the military establishment on the Afghan issue, and that it will not depart from the box drawn by the army on strategic issues such as the Afghanistan and Kashmir issue and nuclear weapons, and that it belongs to a family that practices trade, and perhaps it is thinking about... Only improve trade and economic relations.

For his part, researcher and political writer Abdul Karim Al-Kozi explains to Al-Jazeera Net that, given the promises made by the Muslim League Party regarding strengthening the trade and economic status of Pakistan in its policies, it will try to open the borders with Afghanistan and improve the economy, which is Islamabad’s need before anything else.

Improve relationships

But on the Afghan side, what kind of relations will the Taliban have with the new Pakistani government?

Writer and political researcher Hikmat Jalil believes that the Taliban has been waiting since coming to power for international recognition of its government, so it will try to improve its relations with the new Pakistani government, despite some concessions made by Kabul to satisfy the Pakistani side and that it does not want to escalate the situation further.

Afghan affairs experts believe that the recent clashes on the dividing line between the two countries and the Pakistani Taliban issue are two prominent milestones in Afghan-Pakistani relations, and even with the presence of a pro-Islamabad regime in Kabul, the basic issues between the two countries will remain difficult to resolve.

They consider that Kabul's continued refusal to accept the Durand Line as the international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan remains a major driver of tensions and undermines trust between the two parties.

Hasibullah Durrani, a researcher in the affairs of Islamic movements, told Al Jazeera Net, "If the Pakistani leadership was confident that the Afghan Taliban movement would help it control the Pakistani Taliban, then the latter did not move against its ideological counterparts in Islamabad, and the Durand line and the Pakistani Taliban would cast a shadow on the relations between them." "Both sides, and there are no indications of serious steps being taken by the Afghans against the Pakistani Taliban."

Source: Al Jazeera