Pakistan’s Afghan policy is unlikely to change following the arrest of the country's former prime minister, Imran Khan, an expert has told Sputnik.
Commenting on the future relationship between Kabul and Islamabad, Georgiy Michitidze, an expert on global terrorism, said:
“Pakistan has its own policy towards the Afghan Taliban*. On the one hand, they criticize the Taliban for not fulfilling certain conditions of the international community on human rights, the creation of an inclusive government, and these requirements are common to most countries, and Pakistan shares them and believes that the Taliban must fulfill these conditions.”
“On the other hand,” he continued, “Pakistan does not want an unbearable situation in the territory of Afghanistan, so that there is no humanitarian catastrophe, so that the country's economy develops, so that the country's security is ensured.”
According to the expert, Pakistan’s Afghan policy is mostly supervised by the army and special services. The political leadership only approves the decisions made by the army and intelligence.
“No changes are expected. Islamabad is also afraid of crushing the Taliban. If they do, it could be even worse.”
* under UN sanctions for terrorism