Afghanistan over the last couple of years, has understood the advantage of playing the victim card; both on national and international fronts. It means not having to address issues on their own, and covering up their inefficient policies. This is not the first time that the country has been plagued by terrorism. Its history goes way back, and the matter is far too complicated to be maligning Pakistan for it.

This time around, the platform chosen for this activity is the Washington Moot. Afghans claim to be at an undeclared war with Pakistan because they believe that the military is in charge of the foreign policy of the country and will soon take over to promote Zia-ul-Haq’s extremist narrative.

This is a failed attempt at trying to prove that civil supremacy does not exist in Pakistan. While the military is actively in involved in policy matters, it only is limited to arenas that pose a threat to the national security of the country. And while they claim that no work is being done on the terror front; the Pakistan Army is actively involved in fighting militants in the land. Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad has also been extended to include the Af-Pak border. Border fencing and greater security on the Durand Line has also begun – something Afghanistan should be supporting, if there is any truth to its claim of cross-border infiltration leading to attacks on Afghan soil. The proof of these efforts is the decreasing number of terror attacks, unlike in Afghanistan; where the writ of the state does not exist, the army is unable to take any action, and militants easily walk into their setup and cause a havoc. All of this justifies weaponry aid to Pakistan.

Blaming Pakistan and claiming that Iran also accuses us of interference in internal matters is just a desperate attempt to get attention away from actual causes of instability.

Pakistan has learnt to not respond to the hostility of the Afghanistan. The government and the army have both been very understanding towards the Afghan state; we have not blamed the state for the situation because we understand that it is a regional problem that Afghanistan cannot look to solve on its own.

Pakistan’s ambassador, Aizaz Chaudhry, correctly pointed out that Afghans need to stop playing the victim and come up with factual arguments, and perhaps, take charge of their own foreign policy. The influence of India on internal and external matters is no secret – it is Afghanistan that is using underhanded tactics, not Pakistan.