Afghanistan rejects Taliban allegation, says India’s role significant for peace process

Reacting to recent remarks by Taliban accusing India of playing a negative role in the country for 40 years, Afghanistan government said that India is one of biggest donors in the war-torn country's reconstruction efforts and New Delhi has been supportive of the peace process.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan (MoFA) spokesperson Gran Hewad in a statement said, “India is one of the biggest donor countries and has helped Afghanistan in development and reconstruction areas, we appreciate their cooperation. We expect India and other neighbouring countries play a significant role in the Afghan peace process.”

India has played an active role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan and its expanding partnership with Afghanistan has grown into multi-sectoral activities in all parts of Afghanistan. The most important symbol of India''s assistance in the reconstruction of Afghanistan has been the construction of the multipurpose Afghan-India Friendship Dam (AIFD). The project was inaugurated in June 2016. It has an installed capacity of 42 MW and supplies water for irrigating 75,000 hectares of land.

Chabahar Port, located in the Sistan-Baluchistan province in Iran, is an important infrastructure development project being currently undertaken by both India and Iran for enhancing sea-land connectivity with Afghanistan and the Central Asian Region. India has constructed a 218-km road from Zaranj to Delaram for facilitating the movement of goods and services to the Iranian border. The highway, completed in 2010, connects Iran with the Garland Highway, which links Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif Herat and Kunduz. 

India's contribution to economic development and assistance to Afghan people has earned tremendous goodwill in Afghanistan. India’s close relationship with Afghanistan is not acceptable for Pakistan and the rising spectre of terrorism and violence has targeted Indian developmental projects in Afghanistan.

A number of Indian technicians along with an even larger number of their Afghan people have been killed in such terrorist attacks. The Indian Embassy in Kabul was itself directly attacked in the year 2008 which led to the death of a number of embassy personnel and scores of Afghan nationals waiting to receive visas to travel to India.

Pakistan has used its proxies like Haqqani Network and Taliban to achieve its goal.

Afghanistan statement came after a recent remark by Taliban saying that India always pursued a negative policy inside Afghanistan. In an interview with Afghan media, Deputy Head of Taliban’s political office in Qatar Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai said, "India maintained economic, military and political ties with a “corrupt” group instead of the nation."
 
Taliban accused India of keeping ties with those who are corrupt and have been put in power by foreigners not elected by Afghan people. Talibani leader Abas Stanekzai stated that India should cooperate with the Afghan peace process.  

US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, was in New Delhi last week, the first such visit after the US Taliban deal on February 29 held in Doha. Khalilzad had discussed the Afghan peace with Indian officials and sought their cooperation.

Political analysts of Afghanistan insists that the Taliban should not make such remarks in the current fragile situation.   

Khalid Sadaat, a political analyst told Radi Azadi that if Taliban continue making such remarks it will hurt Afghanistan’s diplomatic ties in the coming future. 

Sadaat claims that the Taliban are making these assertions at Pakistan’s behest. “Taliban should not give themselves this liberty to make country and state level remarks, as it will have negative consequences for Afghanistan in the future. And the other thing is that India and Pakistan are having historical enmity and Pakistan is playing a proxy role in Afghanistan and Taliban are being accused of playing Pakistan’s proxy role in Afghanistan and are backed by Pakistan, I believe Taliban these assertions are on Pakistan’s demand," Sadaat said.

Earlier last week, over 40 people, including two newborn babies were killed in two terror attacks in Afghanistan on Tuesday. Several gunmen disguised as policemen attacked a Kabul hospital killing 16 people in the early morning today. Notably, part of this hospital run by an international humanitarian organization ‘Doctors Without Borders’.

In a series of tweet, former Director of National Directorate of Security (NDS) stated, "If state sponsors of terrorism in the region are not stopped we will see another 9/11 style attack in future. Alqaeda’s Al-Zawahiri, Abu Muhammad Al Masri & Saif ul Adel are still planning for attacks in the west with the backing of #HQN which is based in PAK." 

National Security Advisor of Afghanistan Hamdullah Mohib has also said that the Afghanistan government and international partners have a responsibility to hold the Taliban and their sponsors accountable.

After the attack, Mohib tweeted, "The attacks of the last two months show us and the world that Taliban and their sponsors do not and did not intend to pursue peace. Their attacks this spring against Afghans are comparable to the level of fighting seasons. International partners have a responsibility to hold the Taliban and their sponsors accountable. The reason to pursue peace is to end this senseless violence. This is not peace, nor its beginnings

Earlier this year, terrorists attacked a Gurdwara in Kabul killing more than 25 Afghan Sikhs. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. 

India also expressed its deep "concern at the upsurge in violence" and extended it support for "call for an immediate ceasefire" and need to "assist the people of Afghanistan in dealing with coronavirus pandemic".

India also emphasized on the need to "putting an end to terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries" which is necessary for "enduring and sustainable peace and stability in Afghanistan."