The sleepless nights the Indian Foreign Secretary's meeting earlier this week with the acting Foreign Minister of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has been giving to Pakistan's political and military leadership have been taken quite seriously by several top analysts suggesting Islamabad should urgently reassess its aggressive approach towards Kabul.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Wednesday met Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai, discussing there a host of issues regarding bilateral relations and "regional developments".
This is coming only two days after New Delhi severely condemned the recent Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan that left 46 dead including several women and children.
Calls for a thorough review of Afghan strategy have grown in Pakistan after the Afghan side termed India as a "significant regional and economic partner".
Sources told IANS that closed-door meetings are being held in Islamabad as top officials delve deeper on the country's future approach towards its much-volatile neighbour.
That's a lot on their plate, what with the worsening situation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and the growing mistrust between the two countries as well as Taliban leaders reaching out to other regional states for collaborations, especially India.
"This should be a wake-up call for Pakistan. We cannot forget the fact that before the Taliban regime, India was one of the major stakeholders in Afghanistan. New Delhi had invested around $3 billion in Afghanistan in reconstruction projects and even the northern alliance members have good relations with New Delhi," said Amir Rana, strategic analyst.
"Even though the Indians are acting cautiously with the Taliban, things are actually moving forward. This is happening at a time when Pakistan is on the offensive against Afghanistan and our bilateral relations have nosedived tremendously," he added.
Pakistan has called the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) a "red line" for the country and repeatedly urged the Taliban-led Afghan interim government to take decisive action against the group.
"Pakistan cannot afford a hostile neighbour to its West. The view is that instead of talking to the people of Kabul, Islamabad can raise the TTP issue with the Taliban leadership in Kandahar because that's where the real power emanates from," said Rana.
"A reference can be taken from a fatwa that the Taliban issued in 2023, stopping its cadres from waging a jihad inside Pakistan. The same can be used to convince the Taliban to move and relocate TTP and other anti-Pakistan groups away from its borders," suggests the strategic expert.
It is also important to note that Pakistan's current policy towards Afghanistan, focusing on fewer talks and a more aggressive approach, has certainly not yielded any positive result, so far.
In the past, Pakistan has had serious reservations against what it termed as India’s influence and presence inside Afghanistan. And the same concerns can quickly re-emerge if Islamabad continues with its current strategy.
"The doors of negotiations are not closed. Pakistan can work through regional states to put pressure on the Taliban to act swiftly on their counter terrorism measures. If relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan sour further, it would add to the already volatile security situation and give more maneuvering room to other countries," Rana said.
Read also| Watch | Elon Musk Responds to Drastic Population Decline in India and China
Read also| US Imposes Sweeping Sanctions on Russia's Energy Sector, Two Indian Companies Listed