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With Ghani in Kabul, will relations with Pakistan change?

There are signs that the long-fraught relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan could improve, following the change of leadership in Kabul. Reciprocation from Islamabad will, however, be needed.

By Farooq Yousaf
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On their way out: Norwegian special forces in a gunfight with the Taliban in Kabul. Flickr / Metziker. Some rights reserved.

Since Ashraf Ghani’s ascent to power in Kabul as president—with his electoral rival, Abdullah Abdullah, as chief executive—the political climate in the region has taken a positive turn.

Ghani’s victory, after a long stand-off with Abdullah over the legitimacy of last year’s election outcome, was a positive omen for Afghanistan. The US secretary of state, John Kerry, intervened to break the deadlock between the two men, against the backdrop of the departure of US forces by the year end and the prospect of a full withdrawal of Western forces by the end of 2016.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0