‘Pak harbouring Taliban, Haqqani’

INDIAN AND AFGHAN OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN ACCUSING THE TALIBAN OF HAVING LINKS TO THE PAKISTANI MILITARY LEADERSHIP

Pakistan continues to focus on countering Indian influence in Afghanistan and harbours the Taliban and groups such as the Haqqani Network, which have the ability to engage in violence on Afghan soil, according to a new Pentagon report. The report by the inspector general of the US department of defense for the January-march quarter, issued on Monday, pointed to a continuation of Pakistan’s efforts to achieve its strategic objectives in Afghanistan, including shutting out India.

The report is the first one to be issued since the US and the Taliban signed an agreement on February 29 to facilitate the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. There was no immediate response to the report from Indian officials. “According to the DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency], Pakistan’s strategic objectives in Afghanistan continue to be countering Indian influence and mitigating spillover of instability into its territory,” the report said.

“The DIA reported that Pakistan likely views increased Taliban influence in Afghanistan as supporting its overall objectives and will seek to influence intraafghan peace talks in a direction favourable to Pakistan.”

The DIA also reported that “Pakistan has encouraged the Afghan Taliban to participate in peace talks, but refrained from applying coercive pressure that would seriously threaten its relationship with the Afghan Taliban to dissuade the group from conducting further violence”.

The report comes at a time when the US special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, called on India to hold talks with the Taliban. The Trump administration’s pointperson for South Asia, Alice Wells, said it was up to India to decide on engaging with the Taliban.