India, Afghan target Pak for aiding terrorism

Both India and Afghanistan on Friday launched a strong and thinly-veiled criticism of Pakistan for destabilising and promoting terrorism in Afghanistan through the Taliban which is widely considered Islamabad’s proxy. External affairs minister S. Jaishankar said some of the neighbours of Afghanistan have played a “very negative role” there in the previous years while Afghan National Security Advisor (NSA) Hamdullah Mohib hinted at the “direct involvement of a neighbour” in destabilising his country, adding that Afghan “nationalist forces are very angry” and have a “huge problem with the said neighbour” which could result in a “huge blowback effect” against this neighbour. The Afghan National Security Advisor also said that “the Taliban can’t take power by force”, adding that he had “spoken” to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Friday morning.

Participating in the ongoing Raisina Dialogue conference in Virtual format at a discussion on the situation in Afghanistan titled “Junction Kabul: The Road to Peace”, Afghan National Security Advisor Mr Mohib blasted the Taliban, saying, “Afghans have found no change in (the attitude of) the Taliban. They (the Taliban) have lost the nationalist narrative. The Taliban are losing on every front . ... They cannot force themselves on the Afghan people.” He added that if the Taliban launched an attack to take over by force, “it would be another miscalculation” by it.