Pakistan’s high-profile talks with the Taliban in Doha may appear to be a peace initiative, but in reality, they expose Islamabad’s deepening crisis and diplomatic desperation. After years of nurturing the Taliban as a regional ally, Pakistan now finds itself trapped by the very forces it once empowered. The border conflict that has erupted between Pakistani and Afghan forces is not an isolated flare-up it is the inevitable outcome of decades of short-sighted policy, strategic miscalculations, and misplaced faith in militant proxies.

The Durand Line, long a symbol of distrust between Islamabad and Kabul, has once again turned bloody. In recent weeks, Pakistan’s airstrikes inside Afghanistan, including in Kandahar and Kabul, have drawn international condemnation for civilian deaths. At the same time, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has intensified attacks within Pakistan, killing soldiers and civilians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. For years, Pakistan’s security establishment viewed the Taliban’s rise as a “strategic victory” a friendly regime that would safeguard Pakistan’s interests. Instead, the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 has emboldened anti-Pakistan militants, fractured border control, and shattered Islamabad’s illusion of influence. Now, Pakistan’s military is confronting a new reality: the monster it fed has turned inward.

The Doha talks, mediated by Qatar, are being framed by Islamabad as a move toward stability, but they are also a scramble for credibility. Pakistan is demanding that the Taliban curb TTP activities, extradite militant leaders, and enforce tighter border control. Yet, Kabul has little incentive to comply. The Taliban leadership views Pakistan’s repeated incursions as violations of sovereignty and resents the perception of being treated as Islamabad’s subordinate. The talks are, therefore, less about achieving peace and more about damage control an attempt by Pakistan to appease international partners, including the IMF, China, and Saudi Arabia, who are all wary of funding a country sliding toward internal collapse and regional conflict.

While Pakistan’s diplomats sit at the negotiation table in Doha, the country back home is reeling under record inflation, crippling power shortages, and IMF-imposed austerity. The fragile economy cannot sustain another prolonged military confrontation. Yet, Islamabad’s reliance on airstrikes and coercive diplomacy has alienated not only Kabul but also key allies who see Pakistan as increasingly unstable and unreliable. Observers note that Pakistan’s foreign policy has become a vicious cycle: economic weakness fuels insecurity, insecurity invites militarization, and militarization drains the economy further. The border conflict with Afghanistan, once viewed as a manageable pressure valve, now threatens to explode into an uncontrollable crisis.

Internationally, Pakistan’s credibility is crumbling. Once positioned as a mediator in Afghan affairs, Islamabad is now perceived as a destabilizing actor. The United Nations and human rights organizations have condemned Pakistan’s recent airstrikes that killed civilians, while Western powers privately warn of punitive measures if the violence escalates further. Domestically, Pakistan’s leadership faces growing criticism for its double standards denouncing terrorism abroad while failing to dismantle extremist infrastructure within. Civilian casualties from its own military operations are fueling resentment at home, while relations with the Taliban have descended from cooperation to confrontation.

The crisis on the Afghan border is not merely a diplomatic dispute it is a reflection of Pakistan’s unraveling strategy. By investing in extremism as statecraft, Islamabad has mortgaged its security, credibility, and regional influence. The Doha talks, however significant they appear, are a temporary bandage over a wound that Pakistan inflicted upon itself. Unless Islamabad abandons its reliance on militant leverage, restores civilian-led diplomacy, and prioritizes genuine regional peace over military theatrics, it will remain trapped in a perpetual cycle of crisis. The border flames it now struggles to extinguish were lit long ago by its own hand.