Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs and National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz has travelled to Afghanistan to ostensibly attend a regional economic conference, but his primary agenda is to tell Afghan officials to “stop anti-Pakistan propaganda” and carry out measures to “build trust”. Pakistan’s ties with Afghanistan are under immense strain once again after a brief glimmer of hope of cooperation between the two neighbouring countries was lit by the election of Ashraf Ghani as the Afghan president last year. The thaw was evident when Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Kabul in May and vowed to fight militants together with Afghanistan. The high point of these cordial relations occurred when Pakistan brokered peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government in July. However, this harmony broke apart due to the fallout of the revelation of Mullah Omar’s death, and the subsequent terrorist attacks in Kabul that killed more than 50 people and once again gave currency to anti-Pakistan sentiment in Afghanistan. The continued resentment against Pakistan from the Afghan side is due to the perception that Pakistan’s historical obsession with ‘strategic depth” means it harbours certain groups of militants conducive to its foreign policy agenda, whilst simultaneously fighting other, hostile extremist groups. Sartaj Aziz and the Pakistan Foreign Office are correct in asserting that militancy and the war against militancy have long plagued both countries and a negotiated peace is the only plausible way out of the mess. The problems that originate in Afghanistan have a spillover impact in Pakistan due to porous borders and so it is in Pakistan’s own interest to ensure that the two countries come back to an understanding. However, Aziz’s protestations against Afghan grievances and the imposition of the responsibility on Afghanistan to rebuild trust ring hollow and are borderline hypocritical. Trust is a two-way street and Pakistan has not done enough to earn it. The continued game of duality on the anti-terrorism front, with patronage given to the Haqqani network wreaking havoc in Afghanistan, is a disastrous policy, which casts a long shadow on the credibility of Pakistan to play peacemaker. This policy is doubly ruinous because the group in favour with Pakistan’s security policymakers is in bed with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and provides protection and support to those escaping from Zarb-e-Azb. It should not be forgotten that Ghani’s overtures to Pakistan were at a great political risk to him back home, as all of his advisors and Afghanistan’s intelligence agencies were against it. With blatant disingenuousness in not going after all the militant groups, Pakistan has burned a sincere partner in the process of regional stability and peace. The greater onus for building trust is on Pakistan since it has been an interventionist party in the politics of Afghanistan for decades and needs to show sincerity in wanting a mutually beneficial peaceful Afghanistan by allaying Kabul’s concerns. *