Pakistan, Oct. 20 -- The agreement reached in Doha between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban is being welcomed as a ceasefire, but its real significance lies in the shift of power and posture it represents. It follows a difficult year in which Pakistan endured the cost of repeated cross-border attacks and the indifference of Kabul's rulers to the presence of militants using Afghan soil to target its security forces and civilians. The new understanding does not mark the end of conflict but a deliberate correction of balance, one that signals that Pakistan has grown weary of one-sided restraint and has chosen to speak the language that its neighbours understand best, the language of resolve backed by action.

The pact brokered through the pat...