THE recent terrorist attacks launched by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in Balochistan sparked security concerns around the country.
It was the beginning of a new wave of terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
In 2024, Pakistan saw a 70% surge in terrorist attacks as compared to the previous year, making it the second most affected country by terrorism according to the Global Terrorism Index 2025 report.
Some people have fallaciously attributed this rise in terrorist activities to an intelligence failure, ignoring the regional and domestic realities of the country.
Pakistan has always played a critical role in countering regional terrorism.
Pakistan’s geostrategic location makes it one of the most affected countries by the power struggle between global hegemons.
In 2011, the United States announced its “pivot to Asia” policy and shifted its alliance towards India, to counter the rapid rise of China.
India seeks to position itself as a regional hegemon.
However, China’s rising regional diplomatic influence poses a significant challenge to this Indian ambition.
The collapse of Sheikh Hasina Wajid’s government in Bangladesh has further exacerbated the regional dynamics for India.
The relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh have significantly strengthened since the success of the recent student uprising in Bangladesh.
The Bengali youth widely acknowledge that the 1971 crisis was largely instigated by India to break up Pakistan.
Pakistan’s strengthening ties with the Central Asian region and the success of the recent AMAN 2025 exercises have infuriated the Indian Establishment.
India is known for sponsoring terrorism in the region and beyond.
The assassination of Sikh leaders in Canada and the attempted assassinations of Sikh leaders in the US have further exposed the Indian state’s involvement in terrorism and agitation worldwide.
India has long been involved in instigating insurgency and agitation in the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan through BLA and TTP.
This fact was confessed by Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian Spy arrested by the Pakistan military in 2016.
Considering the historical nexus of India to the BLA and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), it is obvious that New Delhi had a covert hand behind the recent train hijack in Balochistan.
Both India and the United States are hostile to Pakistan’s involvement in China’s BRI project.
For years, the United States has been exerting sustained pressure on Pakistan to withdraw from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), underscoring their concerns over China’s expanding influence and its strategic implications.
TTP and BLA have attacked the Chinese engineers, working on the CPEC project, multiple times.
This speaks volumes about the sponsors of TTP and BLA.
The Pakistani security establishment must act swiftly to launch an offensive against the terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s government must engage the interim Taliban government to hamper cross-border terrorism.
Pakistan must expedite its diplomatic efforts to expose the real perpetrator – India – behind rising terrorism in the country.
The formation of a regional counter-terrorism coalition will also play a pivotal role in establishing regional peace and stability.
—The writer is a political observer and research analyst specializing in regional and global geopolitical issue. (hamzaalvi96@gmail.com)
