Editorial
On 27 June 2026, Khwarij (TTP), under the brand name of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, attacked a Rangers camp in Karachi, and the arrested terrorists included an Afghan national. This is neither new nor something unusual because, in almost every terrorist attack in Pakistan, either Afghans are directly involved on the ground, or the attacks are sponsored by elements sitting in Kabul. Three brave sons of the soil rendered the ultimate sacrifice and embraced Shahadat in the line of duty, while several soldiers were injured. The situation in entire KP, particularly in Bannu district is not normal, where TTP terrorists, using the latest US-made equipment, are roaming freely.
Pakistan has been providing irrefutable evidence and proof that India is behind terrorism in Pakistan through Afghanistan. Pakistan maintains that Fitna-e-Hindustan and Fitna-e-Khawarij are collaborating to harm Pakistan and that they have more than one foreign master. In the same scenario, there are reports that India and Pakistan held a Track 1.5 dialogue in Colombo, where senior officials, former diplomats, retired military officers, and political representatives from both sides attended the engagement, including senior BJP leader Ram Madhav and former Indian Army Chief General Manoj Naravane.
Reports suggest that the discussions primarily focused on strengthening mechanisms for crisis communication, managing potential escalations, and tackling pressing issues such as water sharing. The exact nature of the discussions was not immediately clear. However, one retired diplomat who attended previous rounds of such engagements said that the dialogues were part of broader efforts to explore possibilities for future engagement.
Indian media are portraying this development as a positive step towards reopening India-Afghanistan trade through Pakistan, and reports suggest that connectivity among the three countries—Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan—will be the foremost demand of New Delhi if the Track 1.5 dialogue continues. In simple words, India is trying to build a bridge through Pakistan to reach Afghanistan, and this bridge would not only be important for trade but also for facilitating terrorism inside Pakistan because, historically, trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan has enabled terrorism in Pakistan through the easy availability of funds, truckloads of weapons from Afghanistan to Pakistan, and transport terrorists in the guise of drivers, cleaners and managers.
Of course, the people responsible for Pakistan’s security know the pros and cons of this Track 1.5 dialogue better than anyone else, but an ordinary reader and television viewer may perceive this initiative as a “US-pushed” dialogue that would morally weaken Pakistan’s case that India is a terrorist state conducting terrorism inside Pakistan by using the Afghan Taliban. There is no doubt that government-friendly media would present this dialogue as an achievement and a way forward for peace between the two rival nuclear countries, while many analysts may consider the dialogue a bad move at a time when Pakistan is shining like a star on the global horizon.
Indian media will likely argue that if India is truly involved in sponsoring terrorism, then why is Islamabad seeking to normalize relations with New Delhi through the Colombo dialogue? Pakistani media would hardly find an answer to this question. The only point they may present in favour of the government would be that Pakistan is a peace-loving country and therefore wishes to normalize relations with its immediate neighbour.
If this argument is taken seriously, the question would arise: How can Pakistan, at the same time, call India a terrorist state while also believing that peace and normal relations with this same terrorist country are integral and important?
