Pakistan in bind, Kabul calling for India

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, June 3: Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, released the photograph of J P Singh, joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, calling on the Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqui.

Singh was accompanied by an Indian delegation. This is the first official contact of India with the Taliban regime, which is struggling to get international recognition.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi in fact broke the news with a release on the account of India’s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.

Singh is leading a “humanitarian assistance delegation” to Afghanistan.

India, indeed, has ensured an uninterrupted supply of wheat, medicines, vaccines, and other essential supplies to Afghanistan, with trucks routed through Pakistan.

However, the Singh-led delegation being in Kabul has sprung a surprise, sending the foreign affairs czar to guess the moves of Ajit Doval, the National Security Advisor, and S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister.

One of the reasons which accounted for the ouster of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was his failure to get the Taliban regime international recognition.

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan remains a pariah.

But India counts Afghanistan as its immediate neighbor. Afghanistan is too important for India to ignore, for the strategic depth gained there by Pakistan in the earlier phase of the Taliban rule had been instrumental in carrying Islamabad’s Kashmir violent agenda.

The Taliban 2.0 has in the months since seizing power has shown no interest on the Kashmir issue. It remain Afghanistan focused. Additionally, the Taliban 2.0 consists of leaders who are seen to be Pashtun nationalists and touchy about the Durand Line issue, which separates the country with Pakistan.

The Durand Line skirmishes with the Pakistani border forces remain unabated, accounting for heavy casualties on both the sides.

Pakistan, meanwhile, has slipped in a fragile politico-economic phase. The ouster of Imran Khan-led government has stirred faction-fighting within its all-powerful Army ranks. The economy of Pakistan is in shambles, sending the newly-elected PM Shehbaz Sharif looking for financial bail out packages in Soudi Arabia, the US and other destinations.

The Taliban 2.0 remain anti-women, gaining the condemnation from the western countries.

But India has security implications to worry about which may explain why Singh rushed to Kabul with a delegation. Kabul preferring United Arab Emirates over India-baiter Turkey is good news for New Delhi. The Taliban 2.0 staying on Pashtun nationalist path to pick up skirmishes on the Durand Line should be music to the ears of New Delhi.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs, while giving an account of the humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, said that India has sent several shipments consisting of 20,000 MTs of wheat, 13 tons of medicines, 5,00,00 doses of Covid-19 vaccines, besides one million doses of Covide-19 vaccines to Iran for the Afghan refugees. India has also partnered UNICEF in supply of polio vaccination and medicines.