The last few decades have seen politicians in our part of the world pin the blame for the security turmoil on the flames emanating from the Afghan border. We’ve been going around in circles for far too long now. Thankfully, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has finally sensed the need to raise the clarion call. Sindh is being said to cross all i’s and dot all t’s for a policy to deal with “the situation developing in Afghanistan.” Alerting the provincial law enforcement agencies, CM Murad Ali Shah also seems determined to crush the recently seen spillover of the conflict. Now, strengthening your own house is all well and good. It was only this month that several troops from the Afghan National Army presented their check-posts (near the Pakistani border) on a silver platter to the attacking Taliban. Going by the blood-stained pages of our past, the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan has always managed to wreak havoc upon our homeland. Clearly, no one in the power circles wants the hard-earned success of 2014’s Zarb-e-Azb to go down the drain. Prime Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly stated not wanting to be involved in foreign war anymore. No sane person would. With over 64,000 fatalities, haven’t we paid enough for being dragged into the American War on Terror? However, Bilawal and Co would have won a million hearts had they talked about the whole of Pakistan, not just a single province. For, it is not just Sindh that is being forced to traverse a tightrope. The entire fortress is under an existential threat. And as Pakistan battles the precarious odds of sheltering itself from the toxic chaos, there could not be a greater urgency for unity. This is what voters expect from a leader that claims to speak for the national interests. Dabbling across provincial lines is a pretty distasteful mantra. At the risk of sounding repetitive, this publication could not ring the alarm bells any louder. With TTP, Al Qaeda and the IS in Khurasan, we have more than our fair share of dangling swords. If (rather, the question should pose when) Kabul falls, who is to guarantee these terror outfits from not unleashing their wrath on the green lands. Already, our security personnel and foreigners are under attack. Ever since Islamabad gave a hard no to Washington’s demand for bases. our historic deep engagement has been flung to the back-benches. While Pakistan is still ready to break the ice, the US is working on an agenda of its own. Having thrown Libya, Iraq and Syria into the lethal clutches of civil anarchy, what could be expected of its selfish designs in the war-ravaged lands next door? Though former president, George W Bush, is shedding crocodile tears for the testing times ahead for Afghan women, his successor has let slip the embarrassing secret. The US never entered Afghanistan to nation-build. If President Biden is so apathetic to the plight of millions, suffering under his watch, why would he waste a good night’s sleep on our nightmares? Everyone wants to keep an eye on the Heart of Asia, but no one really cares what happens to the heartbeat of Asia. Amid rumoured plans to tackle the impending refugee wave the “Iranian” way, Pakistan has both hands full. We want to facilitate the peace process in the neighbourhood, manage–unrealistic–international expectations in guarding the red lines and protect our citadel. The first line of action should be regarding those fleeing the terrors of their homes. Yes, their welfare and rights matter but not above our security needs. Let’s just hope things do not come to a point where the US scapegoats us for its biggest blunder, the foremost testament of which becomes Durand Line. *