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By Shanthie Mariet D’SOUZA, PhD, founder & president, Mantraya Institute for Strategic Studies (MISS)
Where once Islamabad and Kabul could calm tensions between them bilaterally, external mediation was needed this time around. There have been three ceasefire agreements between Afghanistan and Pakistan in less than two weeks. Two agreements collapsed or were violated before a final one was reached in Doha on October 19, which has held as of writing. These fragile, imperfect, yet frequent arrangements to cease hostilities, however, reveal three different dynamics between the two friends-turned-foes: first, the cordiality of the past is no longer a restraining factor for carrying out military measures against one another; second, these measures and counter-measures, however, won’t reach a point of truly destructive escalation; and yet, third, both countries are no longer able to resolve their differences bilaterally and need the assistance of external mediators indicating deep schisms and distrust in the relationship. READ MORE
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