Clashes trigger tension in south Asia

There have been two, one on the India-China border in the province of Arunachal Pradesh where the Indian and Chinese troops clashed and there were injuries on both sides but there were no deaths because no firearms were used. Then came firing from the Afghan side on to the Pakistan side where civilians were injured. This happened in the Pakistan province of Balochistan bordering on the Kandahar province in Afghanistan. The two incidents are unconnected, and each one has a long, separate history.

The India-China border dispute goes back to the 1950s. Though the firing had occurred on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, it is not related to a border a dispute between the two countries, though there is a border dispute because of the Durand Line drawn by the British, even as they drew the McMahon Line on the India-China border in the east. India and China have a mechanism of meetings between field commanders where the troops clash with each other, and they also cross over into each other’s territory because of the un-demarcated nature of the border between the two countries. For the last two years, India-China relations have been tense and strained, and the Indian Minister for External Affairs S.Jaishankar had been candid about the relations saying they were not normal and they would not be normal unless China restrains from provocative actions.

The Chinese on their part have been reiterating that they are operating on their side of the border, which India disputes. But the two Asian giants have been engaged in umpteen rounds of border talks through their special representatives but there has been no resolution so far.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship has been internationalised when the Soviet armies entered Afghanistan in 1979 and there was an influx of Afghan refugees into Pakistan, about two million of them. It was at that time that the United States armed the resistance groups of Afghanistan against the Soviet troops, and gave rise to the birth of armed groups, among whom were the Taliban, who had prevailed over the others after the Soviet troops withdrew in 1989.

Pakistan has facilitated the emergence of the Taliban and Islamabad had hoped to wield influence in Afghanistan through this group. After the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York and Washington, the Taliban came in the line of fire because Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda and his followers were in Afghanistan. Despite persuasion of Pakistan, the Taliban refused to surrender Osama and his camp followers. The US and NATO troops attacked the Taliban government, and Pakistan was an unwilling ally of the Americans in the war on terror.

But after the exit of the American and NATO troops from Afghanistan, and the return of Taliban, it seemed that the Taliban-Islamabad relationship would be what it was when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. But the Pakistan-Taliban relations have been quite uneasy, and it seems that they have become problematic as well.

The Pakistan government feels that the Taliban in Afghanistan are supportive of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is posing a challenge to the Pakistan government. And Pakistan has not yet recognised the Taliban government because it said that it would do so along with the rest of the international community. The Afghan defence ministry statement blamed Pakistan for firing first, while Pakistan military accused Afghanistan of “unprovoked and indiscriminate” fire.

The Taliban had also said dialogue was the way forward. It is clear then that Pakistan and the Taliban are not on friendly terms. While Pakistan faces the violence of TTP, the Taliban government is facing the sporadic violence from a group identified as the Islamic State of Afghanistan and Khorasan. Dialogue between Pakistan and the Taliban is necessary to contain the violence of the extreme religious groups on both sides.