Half a decade later, the group many feared for its insurgency then, and fear for its intimidation now, still wields power. Through onslaughts, obstacles and the edge of ruin, they remain in authority, whatever authority means.

When the Taliban seized Kabul in August 2021, Pakistan met the news with smiles and quiet acknowledgments of a win nobody wanted to say out loud. Islamabad’s protege had taken the throne. Pakistan could shape much of what happened inside the corridors of power in Kabul.

Like many love affairs, this one suffered distrust, betrayal, break-up, rebound, reconciliation and fights. The graph of the relationship has not been linear, not in the least, however much was expected of it.

Expecting a linear relationship from a non-linear history is naive.- Naila Mahsud

Expecting a linear relationship from a non-linear history is naive.

As I warned earlier, it was never going to be simple. Kabul and Islamabad have never played simple. Too many groups to control, too many alliances and hostilities, too much face to save, and above all the weight of too much history. In the 1980s we were allies against the Soviets. In the 1990s, Islamabad backed different warlords and then the Taliban. After 2001, Kabul hosted India and Islamabad started acting with unprecedented vitality. Pakistan........

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