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Pakistan's Afghan Triumph Carries Risks for Islamabad

Pakistan's Afghan Triumph Carries Risks for Islamabad

"Landi Kotal, Pakistan - May 9, 2006 - Two Pakistani men (on the left a Pakistani soldier) looking over the mountains at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The mountain in the background are in Afghanistan"

Tim Willasey-Wilsey is a former senior member of the British Foreign Office. He is currently a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Kings College London’s Department of War Studies.

When one looks at the proposed agreement between the United States and the Taliban due to be signed on 29th February there is one stand-out winner; Pakistan. Since 2001, Pakistan has played a high-stakes game but, whereas other players (notably NATO countries) have flip-flopped between policies, Pakistan has retained its strategic vision and held firm. However Islamabad (or rather Rawalpindi; because Afghan strategy is dictated by the Army) needs to be careful. If the next 2 or 3 years go badly in Kabul there could be serious implications for Pakistan’s own territorial integrity.

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