Will safeguard Indian projects, says Taliban

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 3

The Foreign Office is yet to react to the Taliban stating that it was not going to threaten the economic projects in Afghanistan of any country, including India provided it stopped providing firepower support to the Ashraf Ghani-led government in Kabul.

This is the first time the Taliban has been reportedly conciliatory towards India, although its delegation has gone around to neighbouring countries such as Iran, Russia, and China, handing out similar proposals.

Without commenting on the genuineness or sincerity of the message conveyed through an interview by Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, a source pointed out that the statement comes from a considerably low ranking member as compared to Taliban delegation members that visited Beijing, Moscow and Tehran.

``We do not threaten or oppose economic projects by any country. We are in favor of other countries investing in our country. We had a trip to China a few days ago, one of our main demands was that they should cooperate with Afghanistan in trade and investment. Our country needs to rebuild and stand on its own two feet, we will continue to support development projects and infrastructure,’’ he said in an interview made available by an Afghan news agency.

Mujahid is believed to be one of the multiple individuals using the persona to communicate the Taliban's message to Afghan and other international media.

The Taliban spokesman made all the right noises in the interview by denying that the outfit viewed India through the lens of Pakistan. The Taliban wanted "good relations with India as an important country in the region", he assured.

“But before we take a stand on India, India is providing military assistance to our opponents, even reports that it has sent some of its pilots for airstrikes to support the Kabul administration, which is against our people and needs to change,” he cautioned, injecting a note of conditionality.

On the climate of fear that has led to the closure of three Indian consulates in Afghanistan, he said as far as the Taliban was concerned, there is no threat to the embassy of any country. His observation came when Iran asked its nationals to pull out of all Afghanistan cities except Kabul because of the threat of the Taliban. Last time when the Taliban took power, 10 Iranian diplomats were murdered in Mazar-i-Sharif.

Sources here also pointed out that the Taliban’ reported assurance may not be about Indian economic projects but its reconstruction work. There was no mention of the Hajigak iron ore mine or the road from the Iranian border. Instead, the Taliban spokesperson was largely refuting Afghan government’s allegation that a number of projects, including the India-built Salma Dam had been attacked, they said.

The sources also said the statements from the Taliban hardly reflected the desire expressed in statements about negotiations, especially with respect to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. “They are still talking of how nothing can prolong Ghani's life, that his time has run-out,” the sources said.

New Delhi feels statements from middle-level Taliban leaders need to be taken with a pinch of salt because of the experience of Iran. A Taliban delegation in Tehran had condemned the destruction of public institutions but violence around the Iranian borders continues unabated.

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