Right. Negotiations with the Taliban was absolutely the right strategy and apparently was successful but then some calls to/from Kabul derailed the talks in Istanbul.
Just watched this General Tariq Khan video. He is one of the most informed and respectable analyst. Some take aways:
1) As long as the issue of Durand Line exists in Afghan minds, peace very difficult. But D.L is a legit boundary which the Afghans should recognize.
2) The D.L could be extended westward into Afghanistan!
3) It was not the Taliban who defeated the Soviets; those were the Mujahideen. And Americans left because of political decision, not because the Taliban beaten them.
4) In Pakistani military institutes, no one talks about Afghanistan as 'strategic depth'.
5) Those who oppose military action in K-P province should then also take the responsibility for peace in that region. [This was a not so veiled criticism of a certain political party's policies].
6) It is possible that India may join the Afghan attack on Pakistan but he doesn't see that highly likely.
7) India will dare not bring its air craft carrier to near Pakistan because Pakistan has prepared for that.
My thinking is that General Tariq thinks kinetic action against the Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan is okay to do.
