PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif stopped in London on his way to New York for the UN General Assembly session. It is his umpteenth foreign trip, and the deputy prime minister is once again inseparable from him. Meanwhile, the interior minister has been on yet another trip to Tehran, as part of Pakistan’s mediation efforts in the US-Iran war.

Pakistan’s leaders seem obsessed with being seen on the world stage while their country plunges deeper into political instability and a worsening internal security situation.

Islamabad is blocked off with containers yet again as the opposition threatens to march on the capital. At the same time, another terrorist attack hit KP last week, killing and injuring several policemen and civilians in Kohat. Yet the prime minister appears more interested in his foreign trip than addressing security and political problems at home. The disconnect could not be starker.

While Pakistan tries to mediate in a war with far-reaching global implications, and presents itself as a net security provider to Middle Eastern countries, its own house is becoming more unstable. Over the past few days, scores of PTI workers have been detained in a sweep across Punjab, and the capital has been sealed as the administration braces for protests by the PTI (a planned march by the Jamaat-i-Islami against the hike in petroleum prices has been postponed for now).

These tough measures reflect the insecurity of a government with questionable legitimacy. The all-powerful interior minister has warned the opposition of a “final solution”. Many see his statement as a precursor to a further crackdown on the opposition, even the imposition of governor’s rule in KP. Any such move would render the situation in that province — already in the midst of terrorism — explosive.

A politically stable and economically sound country is what builds an independent policy.

The security situation in both KP and Balochistan is worsening. The Global Terrorism Index 2026, which covers the calendar year 2025, has placed Pakistan at the top of the list of countries hit by terrorism. More than 1,000 civilians and security personnel have reportedly been killed in terrorist attacks in nine months of this year, with July being the deadliest month, when 112 security personnel lost their lives.

One of the deadliest attacks of the year on a police compound in Kohat last week left at least 31 people dead, many of them law enforcers. A day later, six army personnel, including two officers, lost their lives in clashes with militants in the same region. Yet despite claims that hundreds of terrorists have been killed in intelligence-based operations, there has been no let-up in terrorist attacks in the two provinces.

Following the latest attacks in KP, the information ministry said Pakistan had conducted air strikes on terrorist sanctuaries across the border and several terrorists were killed and ammunition depots destroyed. Yet such kinetic action lacks an overarching policy for dealing with the menace of terrorism. Political instability — and a federal government locked in constant confrontation with the KP provincial administration — has given terrorist groups wider space to operate in. Under-equipped civilian law-enforcement agencies on the front line of this existential war have become sitting ducks.

Last week’s attack on the police compound, together with growing casualties among military and civil personnel, has exposed these fault lines in the country’s fight against terrorism. The ever-widening trust gap between the state and the local people, aggravated by a worsening economic situation, has made terrorism far harder to tackle. Yet the state’s priorities appear to lie elsewhere: instead of focusing on fighting terrorism, the interior minister has threatened the KP provincial government with a “final solution”.

The situation in Balochistan is even worse. The state’s writ is non-existent in many parts of the province. Terrorist attacks have increased markedly, while the state insists on the kinetic option rather than seeking a political solution to this festering problem — which gives external forces a chance to fish in troubled waters.

The expanding regional conflict has direct implications for a province near the war zone. The intensification of fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi militia could draw Pakistan, which is a part of a trilateral defence alliance, directly into the conflict. Regional instability would have serious spillover effects in the province, given its long coastline.

An unrepresentative provincial government propped up by the establishment and the growing alienation of the population from the state have created a conducive environment for separatist groups to operate in, with external support. Some reports suggest that Iranian insurgent groups operating in the border region — allegedly backed by hostile intel elements — have been reactivated to create disturbances inside Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province. For Pakistan, which is trying to end the US-Iran war, this is a challenging situation. Can Islamabad prevent the area from becoming a hub of regional conflict?

The state must put in significant effort to win the confidence of an alienated population. That can happen only by restoring democratic and economic rights to the people in Balochistan. Persecuting those who raise their voices against state excesses and blocking the news won’t solve the problem. The province is sitting on a powder keg — yet there seems to be no sign that the state is prepared to change course.

There is no disagreement over Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to end the US-Iran war. But they must not divert attention from the dire political and economic situation at home. Foreign policy begins at home; several foreign trips are not a sign of a successful foreign policy. A politically stable and economically sound country is what builds an independent policy. And the spectacle of the capital sealed off with containers does not sit well with Pakistan’s high-profile image on the world stage, however fleeting that image may be.

The writer is an author and journalist.

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X: @hidhussain

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2026