Is Pakistan Paying for its Afghan Policy? | Rafiullah Kakar | Sohail Asghar Khan
In this podcast, Public Policy and Development Expert Rafiullah Kakar offers a critical assessment of Pakistan’s Afghan policy, describing it as interventionist and fundamentally flawed. He argues that decades of strategic miscalculations and misleading narratives have not only failed to deliver stability in Afghanistan but have also produced serious consequences for Pakistan itself. The discussion explores how Pakistan’s support for the Taliban has strengthened militant groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), deepening insecurity across Pakistan’s tribal Pashtun belt. Rafiullah Kakar explains how policies once justified in the name of “strategic depth” have backfired, leaving border regions vulnerable to violence and radicalization. A significant part of the conversation is devoted to the Durand Line, where Kakar dismantles common myths and misconceptions surrounding the border. He explains why the Durand Line remains a point of tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan, how it is politically instrumentalized on both sides, and why simplistic narratives fail to address the historical and legal realities of the issue.