Does Pak have proprietary rights over Taliban, ask experts

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 30

Pakistan National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf’s comment that it is “shameless” of India to engage the Afghan Taliban in Qatar has been dismissed by strategic experts.

“I want to ask this: with what standing did this Indian high-level official meet the Taliban there? Did they not feel ashamed?” Yusuf said in a TV programme when asked how Pakistan viewed the India-Taliban meetings.

“They kept having the Taliban killed daily and kept giving funds for operations against them and today they have reached there to have talks,” he added.

“Could not understand his logic why India should not engage with Taliban, except that he appears very upset. Or does he claim proprietary rights and allows only a few to engage with the Taliban? He will be even more upset as the Taliban leadership displays more independence,” commented former Indian ambassador to Afghanistan Amar Sinha.

“India’s outreach to the Taliban is limited and late-in-the-day. But it seems to have upset Pindi enough for them to evoke “shame” with no sense of irony whatsoever. I guess the message from the Taliban to India isn’t all that bad after all,” observed Avinash Paliwal, strategic expert and the author of a well-received book on India’s role in Afghanistan in the 80s.

The Ministry of External Affairs has dismissed speculation that EAM S. Jaishankar had met top Taliban leaders during his recent visits to Qatar. But Qatar’s Special Envoy for Counterterrorism Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani said at a webinar that, “there has been a quiet visit by Indian officials to speak to the Taliban”.