New Delhi: India has a long history of involvement with the Taliban that often blects the government in Pakistan, who wants to minimize Delhi’s involvement in Afghanistan, Hamid Mir’s journalist writes in the work of Washington Post.
Indian officials made their first direct contact with the Taliban in 2013, when they issued a visa to the Senior Taliban leader Abdul Salam Zaeef for a conference.
Zaeef is the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, but after 9/11 the Pakistani government arrested him and handed it to the United States.
“Later, his book, ‘My Life with Taliban’ was published in India in 2010.
His name was also excluded from the UN terrorism list; at some point after that he appeared in India.
The big question is fixed: why did he agree to visit India and why India let it? “Mir said.
He added that the Afghan Taliban was not happy with Pakistan’s round after 9/11.
Zaeef explicitly expressed his displeasure to the formation of Pakistani security in his book.
He wrote: “They have two tongues in one mouth, and two faces in one head so they can speak everyone’s language; they use everyone, cheat everyone.” He criticized how his colleagues were tortured in Pakistani prisons.
A senior Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar, was arrested in Pakistan in 2010.
This arrest is a turning point.
Baradar came into contact with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who pushed Russia, Iran and India to begin a dialogue with the Taliban.
Pakistan was not happy with the contact baradar with Karzai and arrested him.
The insult in Pakistan’s hands forced the Taliban to open channels with Russia, Iran and India.
They are careful in dealing with India, Mir said.
Pakistan released Baradar in 2018, and the Taliban pointed at him the negotiating team in Qatar.
In the same year several senior Taliban leaders met with Indian representatives in Moscow.
They want to neutralize India because Indians have supported the anti-Taliban forces in the past.
Meanwhile, India was interested in involving the Taliban because Afghan President Ashraf Ghani failed to make the Front unite against them.
“India invested billions of dollars in Afghanistan after 9/11, even building a new parliament building in Kabul.
India also built dams, roads, schools, universities, hospitals and sports stadiums in various parts of the country.
All of this will waste if it is not involved with the Taliban, “Mir said.
Mir said last year, the United States also asked India to be involved with the Taliban.
Indians are worried that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan can encourage militancy in Jammu and Kashmir (because of the withdrawal of Russia from Afghanistan in 1989 has done).
Mir said the Taliban explained to India they would not interfere in Kashmir.
The Taliban also knew that India provided military support to the Ghani regime.
They warned India to remain impartial, Mir added.
He added that last month, an official of Qatar revealed that Indian officials and Taliban leaders held a meeting in Doha.
Pakistan is not happy with these reports.
In fact, Pakistan was rejected including Indians in Afghan peace talks.
Although Pakistan has been involved with India recently (both countries announced a ceasefire agreement in February), Pakistan has never been interested in involvement between Taliban and India.
Recently, Pakistan security officials told parliamentary members in a closed meeting that the Afghan Taliban was no longer cooperative and that they wanted to take over Kabul by force.
In this meeting, officials also said that there was no difference between Afghanistan and Pakistan Taliban, which had attacked Pakistani security forces for a long time.