US-Pakistan cooperation is more necessary today than ever before

After the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the US will need Pakistan’s help to preserve the gains of the last 20 years and prevent further historical unravelling.

The Taliban’s dramatic takeover of Kabul has thrown the future of the US’s commitments to Afghanistan, as well as its broader relationship to the region, into doubt. Questions now loom about Washington’s continued investment in the neighbourhood and in particular the extent of its commitment to Afghanistan’s women and minorities, who face an uncertain future under a fast-changing political reality. As the Taliban swept through Afghanistan in less than a week, statements from the Biden administration suggested dismay as well as frustration at the inability of the former Afghan government to hold its own against the Taliban. In the coming days, some of this frustration will undoubtedly be directed at former front-line ally, Pakistan’s security establishment, which many in the US see as sharing at least some of the blame for Washington’s failures in Afghanistan and the Taliban’s ability to ride out a war of attrition against the numerically superior and better equipped Afghan security forces. While there has still been no direct contact between the Biden administration and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan since January, well before the collapse of Afghanistan’s military, officials on both sides had been working together for months to try and expedite an intra-Afghan peace accord. There have also been quieter attempts away from the limelight to better the bilateral substance of the Pakistan-US relationship in recent months. Since the Taliban’s takeover, Pakistani officials have also said they will not recognise a Taliban government until a regional and international consensus on Afghanistan’s future is established.