For years, Pakistan kept telling the world that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan was not operating in a vacuum. Islamabad said its fighters had sanctuaries across the border, that they were receiving support from Afghan soil, and that the authorities sitting in Kabul and Kandahar could not wash their hands of this problem. Many in the West listened politely, but rarely accepted the argument with the seriousness it deserved.

Now the same point is being acknowledged in Europe.

In a televised interview, a senior European representative admitted what Pakistan has been saying for a long time: the TTP is a terrorist organisation; it receives support from Afghanistan; and the people who now rule Kabul and Kandahar have a responsibility to address this threat. He went further. He said that if there are training camps, weapons flows, financial support, or safe havens for terrorists escaping operations in Pakistan, these are matters that must be dealt with by the Afghan authorities. Most importantly, he acknowledged that every state has a legitimate right to self-defence against a clear terrorist threat.

This is not an ordinary statement. It changes the nature of the debate.

Until recently, Pakistan’s complaints about the TTP were often treated as another chapter in the long and bitter story of Pakistan-Afghanistan mistrust. Whenever Islamabad raised the issue of sanctuaries, Kabul denied responsibility. Whenever Pakistan demanded action, the Taliban offered either silence, excuses or evasive assurances. Western........

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