For Pakistan, the pullout by the US troops from Afghanistan may not have worked out the way the country would have wanted it to. After a hasty pullout from the United States, Pakistan made some quick moves to gain control over Afghanistan and the ruling Taliban.
The plan was to use Afghanistan as a launch pad for terrorists against India. This would help Pakistan continue its terror operations in Jammu & Kashmir, and at the same time, it would have the deniability factor as the attacks would not be launched from its soil.
The Taliban, on the other hand, had other plans. Many had anticipated that Pakistan gaining control over Afghanistan would also mean that the Chinese influence over Kabul would increase. New Delhi, on the other hand, made some quick moves and opened the phone lines with Kabul. Since then, New Delhi has been offering aid and assistance while also engaging diplomatically with Afghanistan.
This was a clear shift by the Taliban, which has by now realised that Pakistan is looking for control of Afghanistan so that it could be used as a terror launch pad.
A new Pakistan strategy
If one looks at the developments in recent days, Pakistan seems to be in some teething hurry to stitch together alliances with all Islamic nations. It would not be wrong to say that it managed that with Bangladesh, which was under a weak Muhammad Yunus.
Dhaka has rolled out the red carpet with the intention that this alliance with Pakistan would work out for it in terms of an anti-India agenda that it is now nurturing. Some of the crucial decisions that were taken included opening the sea route, visa norm relaxations and strategic defence cooperation.
However, just stitching up an alliance with. Bangladesh is not enough for Pakistan. It seems to have lost its battle in Afghanistan, and the developments in Balochistan, where the Pakistan army is facing severe losses, have put Islamabad on the back foot.
Now, an ISI delegation is reaching out to the Islamic State and the National Resistance Front (NRF) in a bid to enhance cooperation. Some pro-Taliban accounts have said that the ISI delegation visited Turkey and met with leaders of the Islamic State and NRF. This meeting aimed at bringing the Islamic State Khorasan Province, which operates in Afghanistan, closer to Pakistan. The Islamic State in Afghanistan is at loggerheads with the Taliban.
Setting up training facilities
The Pakistan army has not been able to stand up to the challenge that it faces from the Taliban and Tehreek-e-Taliban. The ISI would now seek the help of the Islamic State to set up new training centres in Balochistan to support its objective.
These meetings come against the backdrop of the discussions that ISI chief Asim Malik is holding discussions with leaders of the Resistance Front in Tajikistan. During this meeting, they discussed strategies to destabilise Afghanistan’s security and gain recognition of the Durand Line as an official border. Further, the meeting also discussed ways in which the ISI could work closely with the Islamic State in Afghanistan.
Following these meetings, it was decided that former army chief of staff General Adam Shah Shaheen was appointed to oversee the coordination with the Islamic State.
General Shah, an Afghan diplomat and a former army officer, served as the chief of staff of the Afghan national army from May 2015 and April 2017. He resigned in 2017 following a political fallout over the 2017 Camp Shaheen attack.
New Delhi and Kabul
Following the US pullout, New Delhi was quick to reach out to Kabul. Following a meeting that was held between Foreign Secretary Vikrant Misra and Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai in January, New Delhi asserted that the present-day Taliban is not a threat.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, expressed gratitude for the humanitarian assistance it provided to the people of Afghanistan. During the meeting, both countries also discussed the Iranian port of Chabahar.
Muttaio underlined a desire to strengthen political and economic relations between the two countries. New Delhi conveyed that it is ready to respond to the urgent developmental needs of the Afghan people. The foreign ministry said, ‘in view of the current need for development activities, it was decided that India would consider engaging in development projects in the near future.’
New Delhi had also condemned Pakistan heavily for carrying out airstrikes in Afghanistan, which left 46 people dead. The air strikes hit the Barmal district in Afghanistan, which directly targeted civilians. New Delhi said that this was Pakistan’s old practice to blame its neighbours for its failures within the country.
“We have noted the media reports on airstrikes on Afghan civilians, including women and children, in which several precious lives have been lost. We unequivocally condemn any attack on innocent civilians. It is an old practice of Pakistan to blame its neighbours for its own internal failures. We have also noted the response of an Afghan spokesperson in this regard,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
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