Gavaskar links Sunrisers signing of Pakistan’s Abrar to Indian deaths
The signing of Pakistan bowler Abrar Ahmed by Hundred franchise Sunrisers bucked trend by Indian-owned teams.
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‘Intrusion of politics’: Pakistan’s boycott of India game divides opinion
Ex-players and politicians criticise the politicisation of cricket and urge the ICC to step in and mend ties.
Pakistan to boycott T20 World Cup match against India on February 15
Pakistan will forfeit two points if they don’t take the field for the cricket game in Colombo.
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Why is Pakistan selling its JF-17 fighter jets to Bangladesh and others?
Islamabad’s defence diplomacy is driving new interest in the JF-17 fighter jet following Pakistan-India clashes.
Handshake in Dhaka: Can India and Pakistan revive ties in 2026?
An unexpected handshake in Dhaka has prompted debate on whether India and Pakistan might restart talks in 2026.
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Why a Bollywood spy film sparked a political storm in India and Pakistan
Thriller starring Ranveer Singh has raised eyebrows over its portrayal of tensions between the two countries.
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Is Trump’s $686m F-16 upgrade for Pakistan a message to India?
The US has authorised the sale of advanced technology and support for Pakistan’s F-16 jets.
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Pakistan seeks new South Asian bloc to cut India out: Will it work?
Pakistan says an emerging three-way cooperation with Bangladesh and China could be ‘expanded and duplicated’.
![Mohammad Touhid Hossain, foreign affairs adviser of Bangladesh's interim government and Ishaq Dar, Pakistan's foreign minister, attend a bilateral meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh [File: Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-08-25T130517Z_833717084_RC2CEGAMDIVR_RTRMADP_3_BANGLADESH-PAKISTAN-POLITICS-1764892848.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
Recent attacks in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan point to dramatic changes in regional alliances rooted both in past colonial hubris and present-day security concerns. As the three neighbours reshape the geopolitical landscape, soldiers and civilians are being killed while the international community grows nervous. How did it ever come to this?
Some of it has to do with the Durand Line of 1893, agreed to by Henry Mortimer Durand, in British colonial India, and Abdur Rahman Khan, the Afghan leader appointed by Britain. The line at first divided Afghanistan and India. But after the partition of India in 1947, it became the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a frontier no Afghan government has ever recognised.
Afghanistan rejects the Durand Line, seeing it as a border imposed by the British that divides its Pashtun people. As a result, Afghanistan was the only country to vote against Pakistan’s admission to the UN.
Despite the snub, Pakistan backed the mujahideen against the Soviets in the 1980s and was the Afghan Taliban’s chief patron until the Taliban resumed power in 2021. Today, Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of sheltering the Pakistan Taliban (TTP), which has waged a violent campaign against Islamabad since 2007. Afghanistan denies the charge.
Enter India, which Pakistan says backs the Afghan Taliban and, by extension, the TTP, a charge India rejects.
In October 2025, while fighting flared on the Afghan-Pakistan border, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visited India, to tighten ties. Pakistan did not fail to notice.
These are difficult times. In April 2025, gunmen killed 26 people in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan, which denied involvement. In May, the two exchanged missile and drone attacks for four days before declaring a ceasefire.
On October 10, fighting across the Afghan-Pakistan border broke out before a 48-hour truce took hold on October 15. Three days later, Pakistani jets bombed Afghanistan. On November 8, talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan collapsed in Turkiye, with the TTP issue unresolved.
Two days later, a car exploded in New Delhi, killing at least 13 people. India called it a “terror incident” but refrained from blaming Pakistan, which it often does. Less than 24 hours later, a suicide bomber in Islamabad killed 12 people. Pakistan blamed the TTP. India and Afghanistan denied any role.
As things now stand, Pakistan feels threatened, geographically and politically sandwiched as it is between Afghanistan and India. India and Pakistan both have nuclear weapons. Afghanistan has withstood great military powers. It is safe to say that maintaining peace in the region is in most people’s best interests.
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India has called the Delhi blast an ‘act of terror’: How will it respond?
India says ‘antinational forces’ behind the deadly Delhi blast. Analysts say a harsher crackdown awaits Kashmir.
Will Pakistan’s defence overhaul strengthen or upset its military balance?
Amendment reshapes military command, raising fears of weakened civilian control and diminished autonomy for services.
![Field Marshal Asim Munir (centre) is flanked by Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Baber Sidhu (left) and Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf (right) on May 19, a day before he was awarded the five-star rank by the government [Handout/Inter-Services Public Relations]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/14329-1763072724.jpeg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
