As Pakistan is scrambling to shield itself diplomatically and militarily, India has quietly reached out to Kabul, Islamabad’s worst friend-turned-foe. With this smart tactical move, India further cornered Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack. The Taliban have condemned the dastardly terror attack.
India is taking the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan on its side as it moves to act against Pakistan over the Pahalgam massacre. India has held talks with Kabul, even as Pakistan faces a Taliban-linked insurgency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. This comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave “complete operational freedom” to the Indian armed forces on their response to Pakistan. The Taliban have condemned the terror attack in Kashmir, and are reaching out for better ties with New Delhi.
This is quite a diplomatic coup for New Delhi, which snapped formal ties with Kabul after the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Pakistan, which hosted and sponsored the rebels, seems to have lost out.
An Indian delegation visited Kabul on Monday, where it met the Taliban’s top leadership and discussed “recent regional developments”, pushing Pakistan further into the corner.
The Indian diplomatic trip to Kabul comes just days after Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar visited Afghanistan following a year of strained ties marked by border disputes, terror allegations, and the mass deportation of Afghan refugees by Islamabad.
With Islamabad rushing its officials to world capitals, tucking terrorists into bunkers, pleading for neutral probes, shifting air defence to the border, and unleashing relentless cross-border fire, Pakistan has turned panicistan. Kabul’s overtures to New Delhi would add to Islamabad’s jitters.
India has briefed diplomats from 25 countries, including the G20 and Gulf nations, on the Pahalgam attack and its zero-tolerance policy on terror, according to reports.
However, India’s Kabul diplomacy is a smart tactical move. One has to remember, Pakistan cultivated the Taliban for decades in its ambition for “strategic depth”.
Then ISI chief, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, rushed to Kabul to celebrate soon after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The equations have changed greatly.
MODI GIVES FREEDOM TO ARMED FORCES AFTER PAK CLAIMED INDIAN ATTACK IMMINENT
India’s talks with the Taliban leadership come even as it keeps all options open on its response to the Pahalgam massacre.
PM Narendra Modi, who has vowed to “identify, track, and punish” those responsible for the terror attack, on April 29 gave the Indian armed forces “complete operational freedom” to decide the mode, targets, and timing of a response.
PM Modi’s “free-hand” to the armed forces came in as Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that it had “credible intelligence” about India’s military action plans.
Tarar on Wednesday claimed that India was planning military action on Pakistan “in the next 24–36 hours” on the basis of “baseless and concocted allegations” of Islamabad’s involvement in the terror attack in Pahalgam.
Tarar’s claim followed another claim by Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, where he said an Indian attack was imminent.
“We have reinforced our forces because it is something which is imminent now. So in that situation some strategic decisions have to be taken, so those decisions have been taken,” Asif told Reuters on Monday.
TALIBAN-LED KABUL CONDEMNS PAHALGAM TERROR ATTACK
Amid the charged atmosphere, India’s diplomatic outreach to Afghanistan can be considered a masterstroke.
On April 28, India’s Joint Secretary for Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, M Anand Prakash, met Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul.
In the meeting, alongside strengthening bilateral ties, trade, and transit, both sides also exchanged views on ‘recent regional developments’.
The mention of “exchange of views on recent regional developments” was a message in itself.
In fact, the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan had condemned the Pahalgam attack, ahead of the meeting with the Indian delegation.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan categorically condemns the recent attack on tourists in the Pahalgam region of Jammu and Kashmir, and expresses condolences to the bereaved families,” Taliban spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said.
During the meeting, the Afghan side reiterated that it posed no threat to any country, an assurance earlier echoed by the Emirate’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in January.
The statement, coupled with the diplomatic engagement between India and Afghanistan, suggests a growing alignment between New Delhi and Kabul, particularly as Pakistan-Afghanistan relations deteriorate.
Pakistan’s ties with the Taliban have soured in recent years, exacerbated by Islamabad’s decision to expel Afghan refugees and accusations that Kabul was allowing the Pakistani Taliban to use its soil for attacks on the Pakistani military.
The Taliban’s warming ties with India, including its acceptance of Indian humanitarian and infrastructure aid, have further strained this dynamic.
Pakistan and its military establishment, over the years had cultivated and nurtured the Taliban in quest of “strategic depth” against India. Islamabad’s hosting of Taliban leaders and anti-India terrorists was aimed at bleeding India with a “thousand cuts” over Kashmir.
