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China is supposed to back North Korea because it acts as a buffer between China and South Korea. Pakistan is between Afghanistan and India. https://www.atlape

• anarazel 7y ago
  One of the recurring complains / concerns of Pakistan is/was that Afghanistan post invasion was cooperating too much with India. From what I understand (which is certainly very limited) that was more fear than reality. But from the POV of Pakistan's,hugely anti-India, military, it's not that hard to understand how being encircled by India and a "puppet state" is seen as threatening. I think there's pretty good evidence that the ISI has (does?) financed/organized training camps for anti India groups (like Lashkar-e-Taiba) in Afghanistan.
• jorblumesea 7y ago
  A few reasons. 1) Fear of Indian sponsored proxies and being squeezed from both sides. An India friendly Afghanistan presents an existential danger to Pakistan's interests. Pakistan does not want to be encircled by hostile powers. 2) An unstable Afghanistan means possible anti-Pakistan elements taking root. Better to sponsor known "pakistan friendly" elements like the Taliban instead of unknowns. 3) Defense in depth. Pakistani military and political doctrine would use Afghanistan as a redoubt. Most of Pakistan is extremely flat until you get to the Hindu Kush/Pamir mountains. The idea would be, let India steamroll the flat lands, retreat into the mountains and cross the durand line, coordinate the response from Afghanistan.