It is good to hear that the Afghan peace talks between the US and the Taliban, facilitated by Pakistan are going well and both sides are about to sign an agreement covering the ceasefire and the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban will not allow the Afghan territory to be used against any other country. After this basic agreement, direct talks will be held between the Taliban and the Afghan government to resolve other issues related to the Afghan constitution, formation of the interim government and holding of the general elections etc. In the above context, in the light of the request made by the US President Mr. Trump to the Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Mr. Imran Khan, to help facilitate the talks between the US and the Taliban, Pakistan has played a key role as a facilitator to bring the Taliban to the table to hold talks with the US officials. In this respect, since Pakistan always advocated for building peace in Afghanistan through negotiations, its stance has been accepted by the US and the international community. On the other hand, India has been totally isolated in the region and in these peace efforts, because of Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi’s wrong regional policy. Modi only followed a rigid regional policy mainly directed at isolating Pakistan in the region, and in his anti Pakistan drive, he did not take into consideration the changing regional environment. India all along advocated against talking to the Taliban, which means that it wanted either the Taliban to be defeated, or the conflict to continue. Whereas, Pakistan was advocating for holding negotiations with the Taliban, to resolve the issues. Pakistan’s policy was in the interest of all the regional countries. The objective was to bring peace and prosperity in the region, by holding mutual talks to resolve contentious issues and by carrying out economic development through cooperation and connecting to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor India wanted that power in Afghanistan should remain with the present set up so that it could go on to use the Afghan soil for destabilizing various parts of Pakistan by sponsoring terrorism. It also wanted a government of its own choosing in Afghanistan, which would continue allowing India to increase its military footprint in Afghanistan, so that it could present to Pakistan, a two front war scenario, as and when it desired. Moreover, India wanted that conflict in Afghanistan should continue so that it could continue to use the conflict to spoil Afghanistan-Pakistan relations and isolate Pakistan in the region. For example, for the last two years, India has been trying to deter Pakistan in holding the SAARC conference, by refusing to attend that, it is also influencing/pressuring Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan to also not attend the conference.. On the same pretext, India is refusing to resume the stalled bilateral dialogue with Pakistan. Hence, by following such negative politics and propaganda, India has been trying to tarnish Pakistan’s regional/international standing to isolate it in the region. In this context, Pakistan was pursuing a pragmatic foreign and regional policies, as it advocated peace with India, with Afghanistan and inside Afghanistan. Pakistan’s policy was in the interest of all the regional countries. The objective was to bring peace and prosperity in the region, by holding mutual talks to resolve contentious issues and by carrying out economic development through cooperation and connecting to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. In following Modi’s anti Pakistan policies, Indian policy wizards forgot to recognize the major changes in the regional environment. For example, in 2015, when the IS-Khorasan/Daesh entered Afghanistan, the scenario changed, which India probably intentionally ignored. Whereas other regional countries, such as China, Pakistan, Iran, Russia and the Central Asian Republics (CARs) correctly appreciated that IS-Khorasan was more dangerous for regional security and stability than the Taliban, because Taliban have only Afghan related agendas, and Daesh has international agenda. In this context, since the Taliban are deadly against the Daesh’s presence in Afghanistan, all these regional countries started favouring having talks with the Taliban, and in the part, it was only India that was opposing any form of dialogue with the Taliban. Now, when the US and all regional countries are in favour of bringing peace in Afghanistan by holding talks with the Taliban, because of its wrong foreign and regional policies, rather than isolating Pakistan in the region, India itself stands isolated. Therefore, now, it is advisable for India to change its anti Pakistan drive, to stop blaming Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism, and adopt a more pragmatic policy of creating regional harmony by resolving its disputes with Pakistan by resuming bilateral dialogue. Also to further enable SAARC to function and facilitate regional harmony, connectivity and economic cooperation. The writer is an ex-Army Colonel, a former Research Fellow of Islamabad Policy Research Institute Published in Daily Times, January 29th 2019.