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Pre-war Afghanistan had a Pakistan-friendly Taliban government with no Indian involvement. How is that a hard place? On the contrary, the NATO invasion brought significant Indian presence in Afghanistan, backed by NATO.
Then you backstabbed the Afghans for no apparent reason, spilling the problem into own territory which still isn't solved, until the Taliban defeated the superpower. Now you have a wary Taliban government in Afghanistan and an unresolved related conflict within Pakistan. Is that your idea of a clever strategy? Or is that an indication of Pakistan shooting itself in the foot at the behest of its f̶o̶r̶m̶e̶r̶ colonial masters?