Gunners Shot

Aadi and I had a good discussion on the future of the US-Pakistan relationship. We realised that the relationship is historical and multifaceted. It has gone through many ups and downs. One has to be pragmatic in viewing their inter-se relationship. They still need each other. We need  to understand the entire issue in the larger context and not view it in terms of Taliban or Afghanistan alone. Both have their interests and both have their compulsions. Understanding the nuances will enable India to deal with better with both. 

Preface Most of  the cartoons are by Pakistanis. Hence there is fundamental truth in what I have written.  Take any set of keywords and google them. You will get to a Pakistani or an International source to confirm the authenticity of what I have written here. However for most Pakistani watchers this must be old news and quite boring.  It is my sincere request that this article be sent through any of your friends and contacts to one of the three idiots I have described. I do not know how to send it to these characters.       Pakistan’s  NSA,  Human Rights Minister, and Foreign Minister  gave a press brief on atrocities of Indian Forces in Kashmir very recently. They alleged acts of genocide, mass graves, torture cells, use of chemical weapons, rape et al .  Their depiction of Indian Armed Forces made the Nazi concentration camps, Soviet Gulags, Chinese Re-education Centers and Guantanamo Bay sound like holiday resorts! If Indian Armed Forces did what these ‘Three Idiots’ have claimed,

Aadi. and I had a freewheeling discussion on Afghanistan. It started off as a discussion on Pakistan in Afghanistan. however it turned out to be more. We covered a whole range of topics and issues pertaining to the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan. We had this discussion as the Taliban were announcing their caretaker government. I would recommend you to see this video along with my followup  article   T he Afghanistan Fallout on Afghanistan @  the-afghan-fallout-on-afghanistan-by-lt.html  

Also Read  The Afghanistan Trilogy  The Afghanistan Fallout in Pakistan   The Afghanistan Fallout on China The Afghanistrtan Fallout on India  and  The Naya World Of Naya Taliban Created by Naya Pakistan  … Just days after the   Taliban   took Kabul, their flag was flying high above a central mosque in Pakistan’s capital. It was an in-your-face gesture intended to spite the defeated Americans. But it was also a sign of the real victors in the 20-year Afghan war. Pakistan was ostensibly America’s partner in the war against Al Qaeda and the   Taliban . Its military won tens of billions of dollars in American aid over the last two decades, even as Washington acknowledged that much of the money disappeared into unaccounted sinkholes. But it was a relationship riven by duplicity and divided interests from its very start after 9/11. Not least, the Afghan Taliban the Americans were fighting are, in large part, a creation of Pakistan’s intelligence service, the I.S.I., which through the course

  The Afghanistan Trilogy  The Afghanistan Fallout in Pakistan   The Afghanistan Fallout on China The Afghanistan Fallout on India                                          Between two brothers it is brother vs brother. If the cousin is around. It is brother plus brother vs the cousin. If an outsider is around. It is the brother plus brother plus cousin vs the outsider. When the outsider is vanquished It is back to brothers vs the cousin. When the cousin is vanquished It back to brother vs brother . This is a tribal reality   Just substitute USA for the outsider Pakistan for the cousin Taliban, Non Taliban, Haqqanis, Old Taliban, Old Guard, National Resistance Front, IS K, Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks and all the ethnicities and tribes for the brothers. That is the  Afghanistan reality   The outsider stands vanquished. Next will be the cousins turn Thereafter the brothers will continue fighting with Naya Taliban in pole position It will await the new outsider – China! That is Afgha

  The Afghanistan Trilogy The Afghanistan Fallout on China    The Afghanistan Fallout on India    This article is a follow up on my earlier article  The Sum of Pakistani Wishes ( https://www.gunnersshot.com/2021/08/the-sum-of-pakistani-wishes-by-lt-gen-p.html  )     An  article by Abbas Nasir  in Dawn states that  ‘Pakistan was concerned of being ‘ scapegoated ’ and being isolated, for giving sanctuary to the Taliban leadership and fighters... There is no escaping that blame…. Yes, Pakistan was duplicitous inasmuch as the Taliban were concerned… ’.  This is the closest one will get to a Pakistani admission of guilt for its double crossing role in Afghanistan. At the other end of the spectrum, Imran ‘Taliban’ Khan feels that Afghanistan has broken the  shackles of slavery . Last year, he called Osama Bin Laden a martyr in a speech to the Parliament. His cabinet minister talks of civilised Taliban. There is widespread euphoria in Pakistan on the swift Taliban victory,  hasty US withdrawa