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Former Afghan General Sami Sadat revealed in an extraordinary interview a horrific reality that Pakistan had long feared: that the Taliban, with Indian funded financial support, was helping Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch separatists execute attacks in Pakistan. This clarification reveals that there has indeed been a secret anti-Pakistan relationship that seeks to destabilize the nation, and this is highly alarming in regard to regional stability and international responsibility. Not only does the statement by General Sadat confirm the long-held fears of Pakistan, but it also points out the network of alliances being devised to sabotage the sovereignty of Pakistan.
India’s financial support to the Taliban enables TTP and Baloch separatists to launch attacks, destabilizing Pakistan.
The bombshell comment by General Sadat has revealed a sinister pact between India and the Taliban, and Afghanistan is a strategic hub for the unstable operations against Pakistan. Even the exposure of the fact that the Indian money is passing through the hands of the Taliban to provide arms to the anti-Pakistan militant groups describes the fear that India has been exploiting the Afghanistan ground as a platform of its proxy war targeting Pakistan. Over the years, Pakistan has been complaining about the role of India in propagating terrorism in Pakistan, and now with the confirmation of General Sadat, the complaints are justified.
This hidden collaboration of Taliban and India is not merely a political game they are playing, but it is a well-thought out strategy to destabilize Pakistan internally, undermine its military, and create trouble within its population. The Taliban, who took over Afghanistan in 2021, allowed different anti-Pakistan outfits, i.e., TTP and Baloch separatists, to find a safe haven in Afghanistan where they are not only getting their logistics support but also enjoy freedom in their operations. This alliance has been a growing force of threat to the Pakistani security since these efforts are supported by funds owned by the Indian.
The vitality of the Indian funding in this anti Pak conspiracy cannot be overemphasized. India has thus been in a position to play a subversive role in creating terror in Pakistan through its secret financing of Taliban- affiliated militias. India becomes not only a productive source of violence on the Pakistan border by supporting the groups such as TTP and Baloch separatists; it is also destabilizing the security of the country.
Taliban’s sanctuary to anti-Pak militants undermines Afghanistan’s legitimacy and regional security.
The funding to such trafficking gangs by India is a blatant act against international values and a move by India to have a hand in the destiny of Afghanistan. Taliban has formed an alliance with India at a strategic time because they help Taliban to obtain a firm hands-on their seat of power and in the process secure the advanced weapons and other resources to utilize against Pakistan. The alliance provokes the consideration of grave issues regarding the function of state-sponsored terrorism in the context of the current geopolitical game, in which the operations are covert by nature, yet the impact on the destabilization of an entire nation can be achieved without any confrontation.
Over the years, the Pakistan leadership, as well as Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, have argued that India has been utilizing the Afghanistan soil to sponsor terror attacks and create anarchy in that country. People often rejected these claims as political speeches, but now that is not the case since we have the support of a former insider in Afghanistan, General Sadat. This discovery is actual proof that the apprehensions harboured by Pakistan were not unfounded. The very fact that the Taliban is allied with India and has continuously supported anti-Pakistan militants gives a bad picture of the future of Pakistan’s national security.
The security forces in Pakistan have had a lot of run-ins with TTP and other militant groups in the use in Afghanistan territory, and this collaboration further presents an escalated threat by them. India has a policy of arming and funding these well-equipped militant groups to keep Pakistan engaged in perpetual internal war. Hence, the country never has time to develop itself and provide security in the region. Such was a situation that worsens none of the nations of the area, including Afghanistan, a situation that caters to a minuscule and destabilizing purpose by using Afghanistan to weaken Pakistan.
Among the most frightening points in this circumstance comes the contribution of the U.S. military equipment, which was abandoned in Afghanistan and is currently facilitating the assaults on the Pakistani security forces. Footage of captured TTP militants and seized weapons has testified that high-tech weaponry of the US is being used by its operatives in its attack on Pakistani troops. This comes as a shock considering the effectiveness of the U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, and this move has far-reaching implications.
U.S. military equipment abandoned in Afghanistan fuels militant capabilities against Pakistan’s security forces.
What adds to complications is the fact that anti-Pakistan militants are now using this military equipment that was originally destined to end up in the hands of Afghan forces. It highlights the inefficiency of the powers of the world to make sure that the remaining weapons might not land in the wrong hands (terror groups). Having pulled out of Afghanistan, the U.S. created a very dangerous vacuum and now these weapons find their application in the civil wars between the various groups in Pakistan only further worsening a very tenuous security situation.
Though Taliban claim that they are controlling and reformative, they still maintain bases of the terrorist groups working against Pakistan. The leaders of TTP, as well as other militants, have used the sovereign territory of Afghanistan as an open ground and have been getting the support of the Taliban elements in terms of logistics and protection. This has enabled them to plot and carry out cross-border attacks with a high degree of impunity. Besides making their credibility as a legitimately operating governing body look extremely weak, refusal to crack down on the said groups gives fodder in the hands of their opponents in Pakistan.
As well as providing sanctuary to the anti-Pakistan militants, the Taliban has also been alleged to have permitted the militia groups to do training, recruitment, and organization within the borders of Afghanistan. The involvement they have in such activities has further contributed to the destabilizing nature they pose to the security of the region.
The international community should take action in view of these revelations. Ignoring state-sponsored terrorism as the backing even of militant groups, as it happened in the case of India and the Taliban, also gives a stimulus to those who want to destabilize nations such as Pakistan. The failure by the international community to ensure that the financiers and sponsors of terrorism are brought to book justifies the perpetuation of violence and international peace.
The global community should speak up to such destabilizing coalitions. It should hold firmly to the idea of enhanced transparency, accountability, and cooperation in defeating the scourge of terrorism. Countries such as India that would be found having been in support of terror groups should be subject to diplomatic consequences, economic consequences and security consequences. In the meantime, the Taliban government in Afghanistan will have to take responsibility of harboring and aiding terrorist groups.
International community must hold sponsors accountable to prevent ongoing violence and safeguard regional stability.
The fact that the India-Taliban nexus is real, as confirmed by General Sadat, has brought to the limelight a clandestine and hazardous alliance daring to disrobe Pakistan. The money and resources provided by India to anti-Pak militants, such as TTP and Baloch separatists, pose a serious threat to the security and sovereignty of Pakistan. With militants getting U.S. military gear and the Taliban posing as a haven for the leaders of terrorists, this is an increasingly dangerous scenario. The international community cannot afford to act blind to this rising menace, but rather it should act decisively to avert any further unrest in the region. It is accountability time.
The writer is an Islamabad-based strategic commentator.
