Has Shehbaz Sharif panicked? Pakistan strikes in Afghanistan as Taliban minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi makes maiden trip to India

Explosions rocked Afghanistan on Thursday night, following reports of Pakistani airstrikes on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) camps near Kabul. The airstrikes came amid a growing tension between the two countries, coinciding with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s first visit to India, a trip that is said to have been bothersome to Pakistan, as New Delhi has stepped up outreach to Afghanistan.

The situation arises against the backdrop of a significant decline in the Taliban’s relationship with Pakistan, which has long claimed that Afghanistan sponsors and supports the Pakistan Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi landed in the national capital on Thursday, in the first high-level trip from Kabul after the Taliban seized power following the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government over four years back.

Muttaqi will hold extensive talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval during his six-day trip to India, people familiar with the matter said. Sharing a post on social media, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal  wrote, “Warm welcome to Afghan Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi on his arrival in New Delhi.”

Expressing concern over the strikes carried out by Pakistan in Kabul, Former US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad termed it as a “huge escalation” that poses dangerous risks. Sharing a post on X(previously Twitter), Khalilzad called for dialogue between Islamabad and Kabul, stating that military escalation is not the answer. He said negotiations should take place between Kabul and Islamabad to deal with the terrorist sanctuaries on both sides of the Durand Line.

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