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Terrorist havens
DESPITE the use of both carrots and sticks by the international community, the Afghan Taliban refuse to cut their ties to terrorist groups such as the TTP. This poses a particular problem to Afghanistan’s neighbours, including Pakistan, which has borne the brunt of terrorist violence ever since the Taliban’s return to Kabul in 2021.
Both KP and Balochistan are currently in the grip of violent insurgencies, with the elements responsible for the bloodshed finding safe havens in Afghanistan. Pakistan raised the issue at the UN Security Council on Wednesday, with this country’s permanent representative highlighting the “increasingly permissive environment” for terrorist groups in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. He urged the Taliban to fulfil their obligations and ensure Afghan soil is not used against neighbouring states. China’s representative at the same forum echoed these concerns, urging the Taliban to take action, whilst supporting Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts. The Chinese diplomat also called for sanctions on the BLA and Majeed Brigade.
These issues have been raised repeatedly, while UNSC monitoring reports have endorsed Pakistan’s concerns regarding the permissive environment for terrorist groups in Afghanistan. It is not just the TTP; Al Qaeda, IS-K, ETIM and others are all believed to be active in Afghanistan. While the Taliban are opposed to IS-K, they have deep links with other violent actors. Moreover, nearly all of Afghanistan’s neighbours have complained of the threat these outfits pose to their security.
Yet the Taliban only pay lip service to these concerns, denying the fact that terrorists operate from their territory. These denials are implausible as there is a convincing body of evidence proving that violent outfits operate in an agreeable atmosphere in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
As this paper has argued before, a regional response is required to tackle the problem of Afghanistan-based terrorist groups. The Afghan Taliban are an unpalatable reality and cannot be wished away. The challenge for the international community is to use a combination of deterrence and incentives to make them change their tune. Pakistan has tried kinetic methods to deter cross-border terrorism, but in the long term, continued hostilities are not sustainable.
The economic situation in Afghanistan is dire, and its people live in misery. Instead of protecting their terrorist comrades, the Taliban need to think about improving the lives of common Afghans. This can only happen through trade and regional integration. Yet Afghanistan will remain a pariah if its rulers keep harbouring terrorists. Therefore, Kabul’s neighbours need to continue diplomatic, political and, where needed, kinetic efforts to end the ‘export’ of terrorism from Afghanistan, both for its own development, and regional peace.
Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2026
Mineral wealth
GROWING American interest in Pakistan’s critical minerals is no longer speculative. According to US diplomats, American companies are actively examining several mineral projects here as part of Washington’s push to diversify mineral supply chains away from China. That interest has already produced a $500m agreement between the two countries and approval of $1.3bn in US financing for Reko Diq. For Pakistan, the opportunity extends beyond capital inflows. Its mineral wealth can attract new technologies, diversify exports and generate employment. That outcome depends on treating these resources as long-term national assets rather than items to be signed away in closed rooms. The experience of Reko Diq offers an important lesson. Years of legal disputes and policy reversals imposed enormous costs on Pakistan. While the project has since been revived, the controversy demonstrated the consequences of weak governance, lack of transparency and poor contract management. Any future agreements involving critical minerals must therefore be subjected to rigorous legal, financial and technical scrutiny.
Transparency should be the guiding principle. The terms of any contract, its fiscal implications and obligations should be placed before parliament. Such openness would strengthen investor confidence by demonstrating that agreements enjoy political legitimacy and are less vulnerable to future disputes or policy reversals. Also important is the role of local communities. Most of the country’s mineral deposits lie in some of its least developed regions, where residents have long complained that natural resources are extracted while poverty persists. Any investment framework must ensure that local populations become major stakeholders through employment, skills development, infrastructure, social investment and economic benefits. Without local ownership, even commercially viable projects may struggle. That said, the government must not rush into agreements simply because American firms have shown interest in its critical minerals. Contracts signed today will shape the nation’s economic future for years. Therefore, Islamabad should also actively court Chinese firms with extensive expertise and technological capabilities across the entire critical minerals value chain rather than relying on US firms alone. A competition between Chinese and US investors can ultimately work in Pakistan’s favour, attracting better commercial terms, and encouraging higher standards of technology transfer and value addition.
Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2026
Growth denied
THE Sindh government’s agreement with the World Bank to combine health, nutrition, sanitation, social protection and agriculture programmes acknowledges that child stunting cannot be treated by the health department alone. The proposed secretariat, district committees and dashboard could replace scattered schemes with targets and accountability. But institutional architecture will mean little unless it reaches mothers and children consistently. More than 40pc of Pakistani children under five are stunted, while Unicef estimates that nearly 10m children are affected. This is not simply a shortage of food. Repeated infections, unsafe water, poor sanitation, maternal undernutrition, inadequate breastfeeding, low-quality diets, poverty and limited primary healthcare all impair growth during pregnancy and the first two years of life. The damage can reduce learning, health and earning capacity for decades.
Sindh’s model should therefore become part of a national, provincially implemented strategy centred on the first 1,000 days of life. Every pregnant woman should have access to antenatal care, micronutrient supplementation, nutrition counselling and income support; every child should be tracked for growth, vaccination and timely treatment through strengthened basic health units and Lady Health Workers. Governments must promote exclusive breastfeeding, improve complementary feeding after six months and expand fortification of staple foods. Cash transfers should be linked to health visits without penalising families unable to reach distant facilities. Safe drinking water, toilets, drainage and water-quality testing must be treated as nutrition spending, not separate municipal concerns. District plans should identify the highest-burden union councils, publish budgets and quarterly results, and trigger corrective action when targets are missed. Independent surveys must verify official dashboards. Longer-term progress also requires girls’ education, family planning, and affordable eggs, milk, pulses, fruit and vegetables. Pakistan has run nutrition projects for years; what it has lacked is sustained political ownership, reliable local delivery and consequences for failure. Sindh now has a framework. Its value will be measured not by meetings, but by children growing, learning and thriving.
Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2026
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Posted : August 7, 2026 6:44 am