By IANS
New Delhi : India’s National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan paid a secret visit to Afghanistan earlier this week for a first hand assessment of the security situation, prompted by the escalating violence and growing influence of the Taliban militia.
Informed sources told IANS that Narayanan met his Afghan counterpart Zalmay Rassoul, who reportedly briefed him on developments pertaining to the Taliban build-up on the Pakistan-Afghan border, during the day-long visit.
India has expressed concern over the growing violence in Afghanistan and underlined that Pakistan has a key role in checking the Taliban’s resurgence in the war-ravaged country.
“As the Taliban regroups and continues its insurgency, the international community is faced with the need to re-evaluate and strengthen its own plan of action,” a source told IANS.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had told reporters during the UN General Assembly in New York this week that if the Taliban was not kept in check, there was danger that the international community’s efforts to bring stability to Afghanistan would be seriously jeopardised.
Pointing out that violent incidents have increased in the last few months, Mukherjee said the Taliban had regrouped and established training camps in the south of Afghanistan.
At an UN-sponsored high-level meeting on Afghanistan held Sep 23, participants felt the need for Pakistan to check the infiltration of Taliban militia into Afghanistan.
The meeting, co-hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, focused on the rise of violent actions of the Taliban, Al Qaeda as well as the illicit narcotics trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
According to some reports, the Taliban insurgency this year has so far claimed over 5,000 victims, compared to 4,000 lives last year.
From safe havens in the Pakistan border areas, the Taliban is now pursuing a long-term strategy of exploiting its control of remote villages to gain control of districts and then regions, said the sources here.
“We are debating whether India should instead strengthen its relations with nationalist elements amongst Pashtoons and other dominant ethnic groups in order to pursue its interests in Afghanistan,” said an official.
India has played a big role in Afghanistan’s reconstruction efforts and pledged $650 million in aid to Kabul. It has promised to consider a new credit facility to boost trade.