Chapter 2 continues...

Afghanistan’s persistent support for the idea of a ‘Pashtunistan’, an independent Pashtun nation—and at the same time for a Pashtun-led Greater Afghanistan, which would include territories from both Iran and Pakistan—has constantly riled and troubled Pakistan. The nationalist ‘Pashtunistan’ rhetoric challenges the very ideological foundation of Pakistan as a Muslim or Islamic state. Pakistan is an ethnically fractured society, with very little in common among these disparate ethnic groups except for an adherence to Islam. In order to build a national identity or maintain internal stability, Pakistan strives to emphasise its Islamic identity and undermine the various ethnic, linguistic, and regional identities that co-exist in Pakistan. It is feared that these disparate groups would break away, thereby endangering the territorial integrity of Pakistan. Apart from the Pashtuns, Pakistan has been confronted with the aspirations of the Sindhi and Baloch groups, which have repeatedly threatened Pakistan’s cohesion and stability.The secession of East Pakistan in 1971 serves as a constant reminder of the danger posed by ethnic nationalism.

Pakistan has naturally been fearful of any ethnic nationalist movement emerging in Afghanistan. Such concerns were magnified by Afghanistan’s provision of safe havens not only to Pakistani Pashtun nationalists,but Baloch insurgents as well. These deeply embedded suspicions have been at the heart of Pakistan’s policy towards Afghanistan.
THE INDIAN ‘OBSESSION’
Apart from the fear of an ethnic movement disintegrating the Pakistan state, an equally—if not more—acute paranoia was India, its military capability and its expanding interests in the region. India features prominently in Pakistan’s strategic vision as it suffers from a ‘small state mentality’ and ‘big neighbour phobia.’ The quest for security vis-à-vis India, which is seen as posing an existential threat to Pakistan, has been an unvarying, and almost obsessive, dimension of Pakistan’s foreign policy from the very beginning.3 The unequal distribution of the military and economic assets at the time of Partition had generated a belief within Pakistan that India was determined to weaken and reduce it to a position of subservience to Indian hegemony. The defeat and dismemberment in December 1971 further stoked persistent fears of an ‘Indian invasion.’

To be continued...