Pakistan Defence Minister repeated his claim that New Delhi is using Afghanistan to wage a ‘proxy war’ against India without providing any evidence.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif this week repeated his claim that India is using Afghanistan as a proxy to wage a two-front war against his country but failed to provide any evidence to back his assumptions.
While speaking to Pakistani broadcasters, Asif alleged that New Delhi is keeping Islamabad busy on the eastern and western fronts, referring to the recent skirmishes along the Durand Line and airstrikes on Kabul, marking the worst clashes between the South Asian neighbours since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
“(New Delhi) has been waging a proxy war against Pakistan since the Ashraf Ghani era. If necessary, we will present proof. India seeks to keep Pakistan preoccupied on two fronts: the eastern and western,” Asif told Pakistani broadcaster Geo.
Until Turkey and Qatar mediated a ceasefire, more than 70 people were killed and hundreds wounded in violence that erupted after explosions in Kabul on October 9, which Taliban authorities blamed on Pakistan.
Taliban authorities also claim that Pakistan is harbouring militants from the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), the jihadist group ISIS’ branch in Afghanistan, also operates in Pakistan and former Soviet countries in Central Asia including Uzbekistan.
The group has been responsible for deadly attacks in Afghanistan and Russia, including an attack on a Moscow concert hall in March 2024 that killed 150 people.