New Delhi: A quote often attributed to the famous ancient Indian strategist Chanakya says, "If you feed a snake milk you increase its capacity to produce venom, not nectar."

It would have been wise for Pakistan to follow these words as its policy of 'good terrorist and bad terrorist' has boomeranged. Pakistan has tried to represent itself as a "victim of terrorism'. It also claims to have made sacrifices to the menace of terrorism in the country.

However, the truth is that the unholy nexus of the Pakistani civil government, military establishment and Islamic clerics have paved the way for the creation of a new, more radicalized society.

Highlighting the current situation in Pakistan, UK political analyst Chris Blackburn says, "Pakistan's strategy of 'thousand cuts of India' in other nations and this whole fact that there is the normalisation of using terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. All these kinds of groups are linked to Al-Qaeda. Pakistan has basically put the globe in a precarious situation."

Several jihadi outfits that had always been priceless assets of the Pakistani government and military have emerged as a serious security threat to Islamabad. This potential threat was first identified eight years ago, when the intensity and cruelty of the attack on the Army Public school in Peshawar by the Tehreek e Taliban (TTP), shocked the entire world.

Pakistan has since witnessed many more attacks on educational institutes -- such as the 2016 assault on the Bacha Khan University and the burning down of schools in Gilgit Baltistan's Diamer district in 2018. Last year's Taliban victory in Kabul, which was facilitated by Islamabad, emboldened several Islamist groups in Pakistan including the TTP.

Following the surge in several terror attacks claimed by the TTP, the Pakistani government has also attempted to reach an agreement with the jihadist group. However, last month, the TTP ended the month-long cease-fire agreement with Pakistani authorities and began launching terrorist attacks again all over the country.

Several analysts inside and outside of Pakistan have criticised the Pakistani government for "giving concessions" to TTP. These analysts have opined that Pakistan's morally impractical practice of negotiating with radical groups legitimizes terrorist aims.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar while quoting former United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton had recently said, "If you have snakes in your backyard, you can't expect them to bite only your neighbours. Eventually, they will bite the people who keep them in the backyard." Unfortunately, Pakistan has not heeded Jaishankar's advice and is suffering the consequences.

Successive governments in the Islamic Republic have always flirted with dangerous religious fanatics festering across Pakistan and aiding the growth of international terror groups.

These terror groups have now mutated into two categories - one wing targets democracies like India, the US and the European Union, while the other practices a violent insurgency in Pakistan itself to establish a puritanical, violent order that intends to wipe out the last vestiges of civilised Pakistani society. Pakistan has lost thousands of lives in the country but still, the country has not changed its strategy.

"Pakistan always believes that the neighbourhood should be unstable. Given this belief Pakistan has always thought that if the Taliban of Afghanistan comes to power in Kabul, it will benefit from the same, however, it has not realised so far that if you breed instability in other countries that instability can have a backlash in your own country," says defence expert, Brig. Rahul K. Bhonsle (Retd.).

Failing to persecute several leaders of UN-proscribed terror groups, and even going as far as to ensure their protection, Pakistan is directly assisting the burgeoning Islamic terrorist threat in the country.

Pakistan has long failed to take appropriate action to combat terrorism within and outside of the country. The country is now facing the consequences of its inaction and those suffering the most continue to be Pakistani citizens, and those suffering the most continue to be Pakistani citizens.