Islamabad announced a “reinvigorated” national counterterrorism strategy in the previous week, aims at directing “kinetic efforts,” to eradicate the fresh wave of terrorism in the country, along with grappling violent extremism.
Following the new plan of Shabaz Sharif's government, it will concentrate more on intensifying existing intelligence-based operations than on launching new military offensives.
Numerous experts and analysts rightly attribute that after a long period of internal turmoil, some political and eco stability has returned to Pakistan, giving the powerful military the space to pursue this strategy, which could help it regain public support after recent hits to its pub image*.
However, it was also the intent of China to execute such a plan, as some Chinese nationals working in Pakistan along the CPEC project have died in several terrorist attacks.
The Pakistani Taliban is harboring in Afghanistan and are closely associated with the Afghan Taliban which have posed opposition to Pakistani pressure to rein in the group. This is why Xi Jinping's role is noteworthy here. China has a profound influence over the Taliban, as it has robust resources and potential to invest in Afghanistan if its terrorism equation there is handled with quarrntee.
The role of the US here is also crucial. As the rising capacity of IS-K, which is also based in Afghanistan, presents a global threat, particularly to the US and Pakistan's security landscapes. It has given Pak-US a direction to cope with this common. Therefore , both nations recently held a bilateral countertsm dialogue. But there are limits to their CT cooperation; most US security aid to Pakistan has been suspended since 2018, and their primary concerns now differ.
Amidst such situations, Modi may not be interested in engaging with both Pakistan and China after his 3rd time as I dian PM. India's bilateral relations with Pakistan became more intensified after recent militant attacks in Indian-occupied Kashmir, and with Beijing since India facilitated a meeting last week between a US congressional delegation and the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader.
Previously, Pakistani Ambassador to Russia Muhammad Khalid Jamali articulated that his country accepted an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to join the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), stretching from Europe to Central Asia, the ME, and India. Jamali added that Pakistan “in principle has agreed” and is taking formal steps to join the project. India may not be happy with this development although it serves in a variety of multilateral entities with Pakistan, such as the SCO, SAARC, and a long-elusive gas pipeline project.
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