Pakistan, June 27 -- In the corridors of European parliaments and the echo chambers of social media, a well-worn script is being recited once again: Pakistan is to blame for whatever goes wrong in Afghanistan. The voice pushing this line does not belong to a Taliban spokesperson, though the regime approves every word. It belongs to Hamid Karzai, former president of Afghanistan, a man whose post-retirement career now follows a singular, well-funded trajectory: manufacture consent against Pakistan, collect the cheque, repeat.

Let us call this what it actually is. Hamid Karzai has been stripped of any pretence of statesmanship and turned into India's official mouthpiece against Pakistan. Not a freelance critic, not an independent voice, a k...