Kabul should show action, not just words

July 25, 2026

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s accusation against India is not new. Pakistan has said for years that India supports terrorism on its soil. What makes his latest remarks important is the second part of his message. He asked Afghanistan’s interim government to stop militants from using Afghan land to attack Pakistan. This appeal deserves more attention than it usually gets, and it deserves a firmer follow-up from Islamabad. 

The facts are hard to ignore. Pakistan has lost more than 90,000 lives fighting terrorism. The recent killing of a session judge in Mastung shows the threat has not gone away. Balochistan, the province where Shehbaz spoke, has suffered the most. It is Pakistan’s largest province by land but its smallest by population, and it has paid a heavy price in blood for years. Attacks on judges, security forces and development projects like the Karachi-Chaman highway are not isolated events. They form a pattern, and that pattern often leads back to groups operating from across the Afghan border.

This is why Shehbaz’s appeal to Kabul matters more than his repeated claims about India. Pakistan has raised the India accusation for decades, often linked to the wider Kashmir dispute between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. That argument is familiar and, fairly or not, has become background noise in the region. But the Afghanistan question is different. It is about a neighbour Pakistan helped support for years, a neighbour that now hosts groups accused of attacking Pakistani soil. Kind words about good relations are not enough. Kabul needs to show real action against these groups, not just accept diplomatic requests politely and move on.

Pakistan’s government also needs to be honest with itself. Blaming outside forces is easy. Building lasting peace in Balochistan requires more than statements at a workshop. It requires trust from local communities, fair development, and consistent follow-through on infrastructure promises like the Karachi-Chaman road. The National Finance Commission Award, which Shehbaz also discussed, must actually deliver Balochistan’s fair share of resources. Without that, the sense of neglect that fuels unrest will not go away, no matter how many speeches are made about foreign conspiracies.

The prime minister is not wrong to raise India’s alleged role or to press Afghanistan for cooperation. But blaming others cannot be the whole strategy. Real security in Balochistan will come from addressing local grievances at home just as firmly as Pakistan confronts threats from across its borders.