Pakistan coming under pressure from all sides over links with terrorists: Analysts

New Delhi/Lahore, Oct 7(ANI): Pakistan is coming under pressure to reassess its policies and what it has been doing with the Haqqani network and the Taliban, in the wake of the recently-inked strategic pact between Afghanistan and India, and US allegations against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), according to analysts.

Earlier this week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inked a strategic partnership alliance, formally opening the door for Indian military assistance to Afghanistan.

Karzai's pivot toward India comes as the United States is cutting aid to Pakistan and accusing it of having ties to the Haqqani faction of the Taliban, bringing significant pressure on the generals in Rawalpindi, The Christian Science Monitor reports.

"You are starting to see Pakistan come under pressure from all sides, and I think Pakistan is going to have to reassess what it has been doing with the Haqqanis and the Taliban and reassess its policies," said Lisa Curtis, a South Asia researcher at The Heritage Foundation.

This pressure follows years of unsuccessful Afghan and US efforts to work with Pakistan, but it remains clear whether a get-tough approach will change Pakistani behaviour, or align it more with the insurgency, the report said.

"I don't really know how much worse things can get in Pakistan," Curtis said. "I don't think anyone knows at this point what would influence the Pakistani military's calculations in Afghanistan."

Indian military involvement in Afghanistan factors heavily in Pakistan's calculations, the report said, adding that since the start of the Afghan war, this was the very outcome Pakistan has sought to avoid, ironically through the use of the proxy militant groups.

Marvin Weinbaum, an Afghanistan expert at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said that in the short term, civil war looks less likely because Karzai is unlikely to strike a deal with the Taliban that his northern backers cannot abide. But in the long run, the deepening of Indian ties to Afghanistan's military could seriously rattle Pakistan, a country that has influence over the Afghan insurgent groups.

Moeed Yusuf, South Asia adviser at the United States Institute for Peace in Washington, said that ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan could suffer a huge loss from Karzai's friendship with India, if the Afghan president is not eventually pulled back to a more Pakistan-centric position.

"Pakistan's biggest loss is the dent in the Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship. If Karzai's efforts to reach out to Pakistan goes south, then you have a serious problem. Then there's no way stability will be possible," he said.

Afghanistan's outward turn for help could draw the US into a longer deployment there, a possibility being explored with a long-term pact Washington is seeking with Kabul, according to the report.

"I think the Pakistanis think the US will completely disengage from Afghanistan, but I think they may be miscalculating," said Curtis. "The major difference from the 1990s [civil war] is the US involvement." (ANI)