When the country is being buffeted by stormy winds from all sides - failing economy, uncertain political scenario, terrorists on the rampage, endemic internal insecurity and, on top of that, loss of public confidence in the ruling leadership's ability to steer Pakistan out of the maelstrom - it would be unwise to expect that hostile and unfriendly powers would stay away from fishing in troubled waters. A situation like this represents a tinderbox for social unrest and a fertile ground for exploitation. One should not, therefore, be surprised to find reports, which have of late become quite frequent and gained credibility, that New Delhi and Kabul are busy creating trouble for Islamabad by pouring in money, military equipment and trained manpower to sustain and strengthen militant groups in the tribal region. With India, Pakistan has gone to war more than once and the bone of contention is still there and with Afghanistan, it has hardly ever been on friendly terms. Even now when both Kabul and Islamabad are fighting for the same cause, the bickering never ends. President Karzai and his team are most vocal in blaming Pakistan for the infiltration of terrorists into Afghanistan, completely overlooking their equal responsibility for checking the crossborder movement. While the rationale of India playing the dirty game is quite understandable, it is rather intriguing to see Afghanistan joining in an exercise that would end up doing its interest serious harm; for boosting militancy in the tribal belt would not fail to rebound on it. If Pakistan, which is its crucial partner in the fight to eliminate Al-Qaeda and militant Taliban, were to be saddled with additional worries, it would prove counterproductive to the cause that is at the root of the chaos and instability Afghanistan is plagued with. But there are wheels within wheels. In the civil war in Afghanistan that had broken out after the Soviet departure and as a result of the disinclination of the Americans to keep engaged in the country, the Taliban had driven the Northern Alliance to a corner. While the NA was supported by India, the Taliban were patronised by Pakistan. The NA's antipathy towards Pakistan came into full play with the ouster of the Taliban when its leadership joined the Karzai government where it has all along enjoyed a predominant position. The Indians have been quick at exploiting their clout with the NA and through it influencing the policies of the Karzai administration. There have been serious allegations that Indian consulates in Afghanistan have become centres of anti-Pakistan conspiracies and have been engaged in fomenting trouble in Balochistan. Official sources cited evidence that they are providing funds and military equipment to disaffected groups in the province. It is quite well known that foreign intelligence agencies work at fanning local grievances, inciting the aggrieved elements to rise against the 'perpetrators of injustice' and providing them with money, arms and any other help 'to further their (local people's) cause'. Finding Pakistan in a serious predicament and constantly being accused by the US and Afghanistan of giving sanctuaries, and even help, to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the tribal region, New Delhi's jumping into the fray should come as no surprise. There is also a school of thought that believes that the US is playing a tacit role from behind the scene in stirring up trouble to keep Pakistan under pressure with an eye on its nuclear assets that would be put to risk under unstable conditions and provide Washington with an excuse to have control over it or ensure that the programme is rolled back. These reports would be dismissed as part of the conspiracy theories so widely prevalent in the region. However, those discounting them would do well to recall that Director General Military Operations Maj-General Shuja Ahmad Pasha gave visual evidence at the in-camera parliamentary briefing two weeks back with films and documentaries demonstrating that the militants who had been arrested or killed had more sophisticated military equipment, communication sets, night vision gadgets, etc., in their possession than Pakistan Army. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani also referred to Indian and Afghan involvement in the tribal region as he gave the civilian side of the story to the joint session of the Senate and the National Assembly. Only last Sunday, President Asif Zardari told American diplomat Richard Boucher that the Afghan drug money was fuelling insurgency in Pakistan's tribal areas. The charges are, indeed, very serious and those making them the country's top leaders. They cannot be set aside as sheer rumour mongering. Enemy or unfriendly countries would spare no occasion to do harm, and superpowers or powers with global reach would not care about any state's future to promote their strategic interests. The answer lies in extreme vigilance and suitable protective measures. E-mail: mqkay@yahoo.co.uk