Was the Afghan-Soviet war a neccessary evil for Pakistan, or were we stupidly dragged in?

[fitpOsitive]

bilkul mere bhai, but inspiration lena chaiye or apna ek unique pakistan banaye

We are unique, and man I know it.

 

[El Sidd]

One of the leading US think tanks with significant influence in US policy also thinks the same

In 2019 a report by the university of Pennsylvania ranked Carnegie Endowment as the top think tank in the world. This naturally means that due to being the most influencial in the US, it will have deeper connections and influence than the others.

It has/had two Indian billionaire board trustees; Sunil Mittal Founder & Chr. of Bharti Enterprises & Ratan Tata Chr. of Tata Trusts.

in 2016 it opened an office in New Delhi.

And in 2009 it invited Selig Harrison for a seminar who is known to also hold the same stance and calls for using Pashtuns to destroy Pakistan...

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There is a difference between theorizing conflicts and having state resources available to enact them.

How does this think tank propose decoupling India from China and breaking the Indian containment?

 

[Sayfullah]

I've been thinking. Was our involvement in the Afghan-Soviet war and supporting the mujahideen infrastructure a neccessary evil for us and beneficial?

Some questions:

Were we inclined to support the war due to our immense reliance on American support and weaponry? Were we left otherwise open to Indian aggression?

Since the border was incredibly porous with no fencing, and both sides have the same ethnic group - Pashtuns - was it reletivaly impossible to stay out of it, especially with the border/tribal regions wanting to get involved to assist their co-ethnics?

Would the situation have been different if Soviets took over Afghanistan - would Soviet Afghanistan pose a risk to us considering Soviet allied India on the other side?

Opinions below please.

My personal opinion was that it was overall a neccessary evil due to all of the above pointing to us getting involved. Soviet Afghanistan still would be hellbent on retreiving their claimed Balochistan and KP territories, and they instantly began supporting militant activity inside Pakistan. A strong Afghanistan would have been a nightmare for us paired with India on the other side.

@Meengla @Bleek @PakFactor @Great Janjua @Maula Jatt @villageidiot @Mirzali Khan @Sayfullah @PanzerKiel @Signalian @Ali_14 @Olympus81 @chinasun

Us joining the war was necessary. The reason why we don’t speak Russian today is because we joined the war against soviets. That’s why Islam is still strong in Pakistan and Afghanistan and didn’t become like Central Asia which is mostly communist atheist or non practicing.

 

[ThunderCat]

I've been thinking. Was our involvement in the Afghan-Soviet war and supporting the mujahideen infrastructure a neccessary evil for us and beneficial?

It's the other way around. Afghanistan was looking for trouble from Pakistan for over 30 years by deliberately trying to create social unrest.

Pakistan finally retaliated under Bhuttos authorization by fueling an already occurring Islamist uprising against the communist regime.

The Americans & Chinese and the rest of the Western block saw that Pakistan was trying to overthrow a pro-Soviet regime, they joined in the support.

Afghanistan's government could no longer control the foreign backed Islamists, so they requested the Soviets to come. It all goes back to these troublesome Afghanis.

They create a mess for everyone.

 

[surmabhopali]

I've been thinking. Was our involvement in the Afghan-Soviet war and supporting the mujahideen infrastructure a neccessary evil for us and beneficial?

Some questions:

Were we inclined to support the war due to our immense reliance on American support and weaponry? Were we left otherwise open to Indian aggression?

Since the border was incredibly porous with no fencing, and both sides have the same ethnic group - Pashtuns - was it reletivaly impossible to stay out of it, especially with the border/tribal regions wanting to get involved to assist their co-ethnics?

Would the situation have been different if Soviets took over Afghanistan - would Soviet Afghanistan pose a risk to us considering Soviet allied India on the other side?

Opinions below please.

My personal opinion was that it was overall a neccessary evil due to all of the above pointing to us getting involved. Soviet Afghanistan still would be hellbent on retreiving their claimed Balochistan and KP territories, and they instantly began supporting militant activity inside Pakistan. A strong Afghanistan would have been a nightmare for us paired with India on the other side.

@Meengla @Bleek @PakFactor @Great Janjua @Maula Jatt @villageidiot @Mirzali Khan @Sayfullah @PanzerKiel @Signalian @Ali_14 @Olympus81 @chinasun

It was a great decision to stop russia from reaching garam pani of indian ocean .helped pakistan for getting foothold and strategic depth in afghanistan .

 

[CLUMSY]

Yes, i think we did the Afghan people and ourselves a huge favor by working to eliminate Soviets from the area. Ultimately id have Afghans on my border than a hostile superpower.
From a humanitarian view, i think we also did the right thing as the Soviets were known to commit indiscriminate genocide.
Of course thats not factoring in bs by Zia ul Haq and USA. But i think it was good.

 

[Baburfromsarmarkand]

Best descision we never made. Other wise we would be a failed nation.

 

[TheSolution]

Yes, i think we did the Afghan people and ourselves a huge favor by working to eliminate Soviets from the area. Ultimately id have Afghans on my border than a hostile superpower.
From a humanitarian view, i think we also did the right thing as the Soviets were known to commit indiscriminate genocide.
Of course thats not factoring in bs by Zia ul Haq and USA. But i think it was good.

Overall plan and idea was good, but the execution was poorly organised and they didn't mitigate risks of radicalisation in our region.

But what can you expect from Pakistan, everything it does is half-assed botched operations that aren't properly thought through

 

[CLUMSY]

Overall plan and idea was good, but the execution was poorly organised and they didn't mitigate risks of radicalisation in our region.

But what can you expect from Pakistan, everything it does is half-assed botched operations that aren't properly thought through

Agreed.
I guess it is still better than not responding to such a threat.
Also must not forget India had relatively good ties with the USSR, so it was geopolitically very important to help the Muj for us