USA’s New Chapter – Great Game Unfolding In South Asia

The US has opened a new chapter in South Asia using its minion – Pakistan’s FM Asim Munir. Afghanistan’s National Resistance Force (NRF) leader Ahmed Massoud and Pakistan’s ISI chief Shahab Aslam met in Abu Dhabi, with Massoud asked to expand NRF to include all ethnic groups of Afghanistan. Syed Qandil Abbas of Islamabad’s Quaid-i-Azam University says Ahmad Massoud, Marshal Dostum, former military officers and Taliban opponents are forming a coalition – greenlighted by the CIA?  A former Pakistan army officer says Asim Munir is coordinating with NRF to overthrow the Taliban regime.

Massoud has said, “We do not want Afghanistan’s soil to be used to harm Iran, Pakistan etc. We don’t want Afghanistan to become centre of geopolitical conflicts once again. We just want to live in peace and friendship with our neighbour countries.”  Massoud called upon Pakistan to support people of Afghanistan saying the only solution is a legitimate Afghan government.  According to a post on X, the NRF has seized the Tala-Barfak highway; part of the Baghlan-Bamyan (B2B) highway project – alternative to Salang highway.  Najam Sethi has praised Massoud for supporting Pakistan, indicating  Pakistani assistance to NRF is similar to India assisting Taliban. The message is unambiguous.

Above developments followed Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi’s week-long India visit after the United Nations gave “temporary” exemption from his travel ban on – obviously  on US insistence.  Massoud backs Pakistan’s claims about Taliban supporting and providing safe haven to TTP in Afghanistan – a fact well known. Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi has warned Taliban over the Helmand River dispute, saying construction of dams in Afghanistan prevents Iran from obtaining sufficient water and Iran will act if Taliban doesn’t stop. India’s offer of support and assistance to Taliban for building more dams in Afghanistan runs contrary. America’s sweetener to India is lifting sanctions on Chabahar for six months.

The US-Pakistan-backed NRF clash with Taliban leaves little leeway for Indian projects and investments in Afghanistan’s minerals. The US deliberately massive quantities of arms-armament for Taliban in 2021. Pakistani military/mercenaries would now fight alongside NRF. When the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, a weak-division worth Pakistan army- Taliban were inside Afghanistan but the US permitted their airlift to Pakistan on request from then Pakistan’s army chief Pervez Musharraf.

After the Taliban seized Kabul in 2021, Pakistan conducted air/drone strikes against NRF and guided the Taliban offensive in the Panjshir Valley, Now Pakistan would do the opposite. Was Muttaqi’s India visit a US trap? India provided a public platform to Muttaqi in a joint press conference, which no other country has. Muttaqi was part of the Taliban government when India handed over terrorists, Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Zargar to the Taliban at Kandahar airport post the hijacking of India Airlines flight IC-814 in December 1999.

Will Asim Munir now bomb Taliban hierarchy with OSINT/US help? After handing Afghanistan to the Taliban, watch the US taking moral high ground of giving Afghanistan a democratic NRF government. But America’s game in Bangladesh appears opposite with clashes to bring back ousted PM Sheikh Hasina and Hasina talking of returning to Dhaka. Won’t she be killed on arrival? The intention appears to be to replace Mohammad Yunus with a more radical figure to accelerate minority killings, particularly Hindus, and wage jihad against India. Concurrently, Turkey is training over 300 Syrian soldiers in two bases in Turkey under a Syria-Turkey (courtesy Washington) with expected number to increase up to 20,000 – revitalizing al-Qaeda similar to ISIS trained and armed by Turkey in 2012-2013 with US and British support.

Coming to the Delhi and Islamabad blasts, Afghanistan’s  Nangarhar-based Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), affiliated to TTP, has claimed responsibility for the Islamabad suicide bombing.  Pakistan first blamed India for the blast but eventually Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed the bomber was Afghan national Usman Qari Ilyas. The Delhi blast was horrific with 13 killed and over 24 injured albeit some witnesses claim more than 50 killed. Educated, well off terrorists is no surprise after 9/11 and other similar acts. So many terrorist-doctors in the ecosystem is ghastly, but could we have avoided the Delhi blast? A veteran-scholar with decades of experience in intelligence says, “Reservations in civil services has compromised governance efficiency – reduced to 20% with 50% reservations or 35% at best. About 25-30% intelligence resources are deployed for political snooping in the field. Agencies which shouldn’t be heard or seen are making headlines on public forums. NIA/Police on TV soon after Faridabad raids and arrests created panic resulting in terrorists moving out in i20 car and blasting it; compromising further investigation. Police shouldn’t have made anything public unless all arrests and interrogation were completed. This two-minutes fame to appear on TV has largely screwed up operations.” The first job of police in a terrorist attack is crowd control, as was  conspicuous in 9/11. Did we do so in the instant case?

Our intelligence agencies woke up after al-Qaeda gave a call for lone-wolf attacks in India. To divert attention from the avoidable Delhi blast, long-winding WhatsApp messages describe how India was “saved” from the plan of killing 50,000 Indians on the coming anniversary of 26/11. A nonagenarian, having spent a lifetime serving with United Nations, says, “It’s all composed by the BJP IT Cell like a story teller. BJP takes every situation as an opportunity to speak highly of Modi ji and Amit Shah.” TV channels are giving detailed plans of nationwide terrorist strikes in December 2025, as if interrogations of the accused are completed and the plans handed over to these anchors.

Have we uncovered everything or is this a tip of the iceberg, with the blast at Srinagar’s Nowgam Police Station killing at least 9 and injuring 29? The terrorist eco-system in India has been systemically embedded over the years by Pakistan and state-sponsored regional/global terrorist organizations. Watch the land controlled around defence establishments, highways, airports, railway stations/rail lines and the like. The female terrorist Dr Shaheen has foreign contacts on LinkedIn, including by Pervez ul-Hassan who was CO of Military Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan. Are only doctors part of this ecosystem? Is indoctrination only in specific colleges/universities or starts in madrassas? In how many more places is RDX and Ricin stored? Are we prepared for all forms of terror attacks?

A seminar in Baghdad in 2014 and another later in Herat saw discussion on interpreting the Quran. One cross-section says there is nothing wrong with the teachings but other disagree. Watch one saying Quran encourages Muslims to become terrorists. Ultimately it boils down to inducing and nurturing radical ideology – child-soldiers to professionals or at any age. Pakistan produces some  1,00,000 radical Islamists annually from 32,000 madrassas. 

In Democratic Afghanistan, Afghans were well disposed towards India/Indians. What is good for Afghan people – Taliban or NRF? Did we have to take Muttaqi to the hardcore Islamic seminary Darul Ulum (Deoband).  Taliban-TTP and al-Qaeda (aligned with them) aim for a global Islamic Caliphate under Sharia rule. Taliban want to transit India for meeting Muslims in Nepal, while ISI is relocating bases in Nepal and Bangladesh.

Today, Taliban, al-Qaeda, ISIS-K, and Haqqani Network operate in mutual support from Afghanistan. Ironically, India treated diplomats/staff of the erstwhile Afghan government at their missions in India very shabbily; by design, under pressure or bribe?

There are calls for immediate launch of Operation ‘Sindoor 2.0’ but at the security meet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistan wasn’t named. A civilian intelligence expert had warned during Op ‘’Sindoor’ saying, “Airstrikes on terrorist training centres don’t achieve anything; they neither eradicate terrorists nor terrorism, but rather create more and more terrorists. This would give a new impetus to terrorism in Pakistan against India, potentially involving the Turkish MIT, MI6, as well as the CIA.” Asim Munir now wields total power in Pakistan. The CIA would love another India-Pak conflict, especially if China gets physically involved. Do we realize America handing over Afghanistan to Taliban in 2021 on August 15 (India’s Independence Day) was a calculated punch on India’s nose? Also, this was consequent to US-Pakistan talks in Qatar.

Kinetic strikes are no response to terror-centric hybrid war. Before the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, India had the opportunity to establish covert presence in Afghanistan; paying Pakistan in the same coin from behind. This suggestion to the e government was rejected, saying this is the job of R&AW (sic). Now Indian presence at Ayani Air Base (Tajikistan) has also ceased – another foreign policy failure. Pakistan’s proxy war should have been transported back across the border years back, but we lack that political will even today. India permits Taliban to quietly spread their wings here from 2021; believing Taliban-TTP will stop Pakistani terrorism in India? Do we understand the difference between talking to the Taliban and relying on them?

To address the terrorist ecosystem in India, we must:

• See through the US game of acting against ‘Violent Terrorism’ to advance their national interests, but ignoring ‘Non-Violent Terrorism’ to breed more terror. India needs a comprehensive and continuous de-radicalization program.
• Review organization and tasking of intelligence agencies and training of police forces, addressing abovementioned flaws.
• Interrogation, prosecution (once charge proved) and punishment must be quick. How can we justify a terrorist like Yasin Malik, who boasted on BBC of killing IAF personnel, still isn’t hanged, and J&K DSP Davinder Singh caught with two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists walking free? These are just two examples, among many, of India’s polluted political machinations.  
• Dealing with terrorists, irrespective of religion, must be ruthless.

Finally, Taliban have unveiled a ‘Greater Afghanistan’ map that includes Pashtun and other regions of Pakistan – like Muhamad Yunus propounding ‘Greater Bangladesh’ incorporating India’s northeastern states. Will a Greater Afghanistan under Taliban (with its regional fallout), a Greater Afghanistan under NRF-headed democracy, or an Independent Pashtunistan meet India’s national interests? Mere shadow boxing with the Taliban would be naïve.

The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are personal.

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