By S.M. Inam
President Asif Ali Zardari’s response to the terrorist attack in Islamabad, and the international reactions that followed, once again expose the uncomfortable truths surrounding Pakistan’s long and costly struggle against militancy. By thanking global leaders, governments and international organizations for their expressions of solidarity, while simultaneously calling for a shared resolve against terrorism, the president has sought to frame the tragedy not as an isolated national trauma but as part of a wider global failure to confront violent extremism in all its forms. In his statement on the social media platform X, President Zardari underlined a reality that Pakistan has learned through painful experience: no country can fight terrorism alone.
The messages of sympathy, he noted, were not merely diplomatic gestures but an acknowledgment that the fight against terrorism and violent ideologies is collective. Pakistan’s own history offers stark evidence of what happens when terrorist groups are allowed to operate with external support and facilitation. It is innocent civilians who pay the price, while the architects and sponsors of violence often remain safely beyond reach. The president’s remarks go further, making an accusation that Islamabad has voiced repeatedly over the years but which is often met with discomfort or silence in international forums. He argued that some neighboring states are complicit in terrorism by allowing anti-Pakistan activities to be launched from their soil and by providing financial, technical and military assistance to militant groups.
This is not simply a matter of diplomatic rhetoric. It reflects a persistent grievance that Pakistan believes has been validated by intelligence findings, confessions of arrested militants and the pattern of cross-border violence. Zardari’s warning about Afghanistan is particularly stark. His comparison of the current situation under the Taliban regime to the conditions that existed before the 9/11 attacks is meant to provoke alarm rather than controversy. Before September 2001, militant groups operated with impunity, posing a threat not only to regional stability but to global security, a threat that ultimately materialized in one of the deadliest attacks in modern history. The president’s concern is that history is once again being allowed to repeat itself, with extremist organizations regrouping, reorganizing and projecting violence beyond borders.
Equally troubling is the assertion that Pakistan’s eastern neighbor is contributing to this instability by supporting the Taliban regime and, in doing so, endangering both regional and global peace. These claims fit into a broader narrative that Islamabad has long advanced: that terrorism against Pakistan is not merely an internal security issue but part of a proxy conflict fuelled by hostile external actors. What cannot be denied is Pakistan’s own record of suffering. For more than two decades, the country has stood among those that have paid the heaviest price in the so-called war on terror. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost, the economy has absorbed losses amounting to billions of dollars, and the social fabric has been repeatedly strained by violence, displacement and fear.
This was not a war Pakistan chose willingly. It was drawn into it by regional proxy battles, foreign intervention and state-sponsored militancy emanating from beyond its borders. After 9/11, global politics shifted dramatically. Pakistan, faced with immense pressure and limited choices, aligned itself with the international community and assumed the role of a frontline state against terrorism. That decision reshaped its internal security landscape and came at a devastating cost. Entire regions were destabilized, internal displacement became routine and a generation grew up under the shadow of bombings and military operations. The argument that the roots of terrorism in Pakistan lie across its borders is supported, at least in part, by the prolonged instability in Afghanistan.
Weak state control, decades of conflict and the provision of safe havens to militant groups have created an enduring security threat for Pakistan. Numerous attacks inside the country have been traced back to training, planning and facilitation networks operating from Afghan territory. Yet, despite these realities, Islamabad has consistently expressed support for peace and stability in Afghanistan and has repeatedly offered cooperation to Kabul in a spirit of fraternity. India’s role, as described in the president’s broader narrative, is portrayed as equally destabilizing. The arrest of Kulbhushan Jadhav remains, in Pakistan’s view, a defining piece of evidence that India’s intelligence agency, RAW, has been involved in supporting terrorist networks, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
(The writer is a former government officer and a senior analyst on national and international affairs, can be reached at inam@metro-morning.com)
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