The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Pakistan has instructed the Taliban and the Pakistani forces who have joined them to destroy symbols of Indian goodwill in Afghanistan, ANI has reported. According to intel inputs, around 10,000 Pakistanis have entered Afghanistan to assist the Islamic terrorist’s group in claiming the country.
According to an ANI report, Taliban and Pakistani fighters have been instructed by the ISI to target Indian-built assets & remove any signs of Indian goodwill work in the war-torn #Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/GNJq6vVgA9
— Asianet Newsable (@AsianetNewsEN) July 18, 2021
Intel inputs suggest that they have been specifically instructed to target Indian assets and gestures of goodwill by the Indian Government. India has invested $3 billion in the reconstruction efforts in the country over the past couple of decades that include the Afghan Parliament and the 218-km road between Delaram and Zaranj Salma Dam.
Only recently, an Indian photojournalist with Reuters was killed by the Taliban during clashes with Afghan forces. The Afghan Government had suggested earlier that they may seek military assistance from India in the near future.
“Should we not get to a stage in the peace process with the Taliban, then maybe a time (will come) where we would be seeking India’s military assistance, more military assistance in the years ahead,” Farid Mamundzay, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India had said. However, the Afghan envoy has clarified that the war-torn country is not seeking Indian troops on its soil.
“We are not seeking India’s assistance with sending troops to Afghanistan. Their footprint in Afghanistan to fight our war would not be needed at this stage,” he said. The envoy added that the Afghan Air Force could benefit from Indian assistance, including in matters like pilot training—which he said India was “naturally” a place it would want involvement from.
