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India to guard against Taliban-like regime in Afghanistan

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The Indian network recently established in Afghanistan will constantly analyse the situation in the country, aiming to nip in the bud the emergence of a fundamentalist Taliban-like regime, a top government official said on Sunday.

The senior official of the ministry of home affairs told rediff.com that the establishment of the network in Kabul was the 'single biggest achievement' of the Vajpayee government as it had put in motion a monitoring mechanism.

He said the monitoring mechanism is being discussed between Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and Afghanistan's interior minister-designate Younis Qanooni.

This network will consistently monitor the political developments in Afghanistan, which will be appraised and analysed by the central government in New Delhi so that the rise of a Taliban-like regime can be prevented with the help of the international community, he said.

Qanooni, who was to leave for his country on Sunday, has delayed his departure by a couple of days to further discuss the situation in his country with Advani.

"The defeat of the Taliban regime might be a fatal blow for Pakistani interests but to us it has provided an opportunity to entrench and safeguard our interests," the official pointed out.

He contended that 'Afghanistan is going to become a playground for foreign intelligence agencies' with various countries including India and Pakistan vying to establish their respective clout with the interim government of Hamid Karzai.

"We have made a good beginning but much remains to be done. We are happy that a sizeable chunk of the Afghan leadership is indebted to India for its consistent help to the people of Afghanistan in its reconstruction efforts," he pointed out, and underlined that Qanooni had acknowledged his 'debt of gratitude'.

The official admitted that the Taliban's rapidly-dwindling presence in Afghanistan had been a big boost for India while throwing the Pakistani military leadership in a quandary.

"Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is having a tough time explaining the perceived invincibility of the Taliban regime of Mullah Omar, which has capitulated without much resistance," he said.

He also pointed out that despite Pakistan's denial that it had no truck with the Taliban, General Musharraf's 'dirty tricks department' (Inter-Services Intelligence) was covertly sending feelers to Taliban soldiers to pour into Jammu and Kashmir to continue the jihad against India.

"Our government is aware of this which is why Home Minister Advani recently talked about Afghan mercenaries sneaking into India as they are hunted for punitive action by the global coalition against terrorism," the official said.

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