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There is a growing concern in the Pakistani capital that two powerful neighboring countries, India and Iran, are secretly bidding to destabilize Pakistan using proxies operating in war-torn Afghan provinces.
We have evidence that both Iran and India have been supplying arms and ammunition to the Taliban in Afghanistan, and that is a major concern for us, a senior intelligence official told Today's Zaman. The official spoke under the condition that his name be withheld.
The official said that Iran's primary interest in Afghanistan is to keep the US bogged down in Afghanistan despite the fact that the Taliban and Iran hold different ideologies that are very much at odds with each other. Iran is supporting the Taliban financially, he argued, adding that some of this support may have been diverted to militants operating in safe havens in Afghanistan who frequently launch cross-border attacks against what was perceived as a close ally of the US, Iran's arch enemy.
Officials here in Islamabad do not hide their concern that the militancy in Pakistan might present a much more complicated problem for security agencies in the future if it blends into new fault lines of sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites. Some forces are trying hard to turn this into an all-out sectarian war, but so far they have failed to do so, another security official said, again speaking on condition of anonymity.
In fact, unknown assailants killed 13 people earlier this month in an apparent sectarian attack on a passenger bus carrying Shiite Muslims near the restive southwestern city of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Baluchistan province, bordering Iran and Afghanistan. In another incident that took place in Quetta last month, gunmen carrying rocket launchers and Kalashnikovs attacked a bus bound for Iran, killing 26 Shiite Muslim pilgrims.
During his address to the World Economic Forum in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Saturday, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari made an implicit reference to that threat, saying that Pakistan is located on the political fault lines for being a neighbor of Afghanistan, which has been witnessing the great game of the world powers for decades. He vowed, however, that Pakistanis have great resilience to withstand all such challenges.
Shia Iran's rivalry with Sunni Saudi Arabia, one of Pakistan's most crucial allies, complicates matters for Islamabad even more. Pakistan does not want to become a battleground for the fundamentalist, Wahhabi-driven Saudi ideology and politicized, anti-Western Iranian Shiite ideology. Yet, Pakistan, to some extent, lacks its own narrative to counter these ideological overtures on its own soil. Disturbed by the recent tension between Saudis and Iranians, President Zardari had to make trips to both Tehran and Riyadh in July to diffuse the tension, to no avail. While the Saudis have been trying to enlist Pakistani support against Iran with large sums of cash aid, Iran has been trying to lure energy-hungry Pakistan to its side with sweet deals like gas pipeline projects. Challenged by its own economic problems from rampant inflation to high unemployment, Pakistan, unfortunately, is not in a very strong position to bargain for its own national interests.
Interestingly enough, Iran has been enjoying a legacy of strong ties with India, Pakistan's archenemy on the eastern front. Officials here in Islamabad tell Today's Zaman that they have strong evidence of India's covert activities on Afghan soil to destabilize the western provinces and tribal areas. Kanan Adnan, a full colonel with the 19th division located in the Swat Valley, said his troops confiscated mines and ammunition that were of Indian origin. Even the communications equipment used by militants attacking Pakistani targets comes from India, he said. Expressing frustration that the US and NATO did not do anything when the issue was raised.
An intelligence official, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said that India has some 150 covert offices in Afghanistan to fund Taliban attacks against Pakistan. India has four consular bureaus and many liaison offices in Afghanistan. These do not deal with trade or issues visas. What does that tell you? he asked. We have proof of Indian involvement, he added.
According to Ashraf Azim, president of the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS), an independent, nonprofit research center in Islambad, India wants its own influence in Afghanistan. As long as there is Indian interference in Afghanistan and in some parts of Pakistan, we will not have normal relations with India, he underlined.
Indian's increased interest in Afghanistan is not the only concern for the Pakistani government. According to Pakistani officials, New Delhi has secretly been providing assistance to a separatist movement in the province of Baluchistan, located along Pakistan's west and northwestern borders with Iran and Afghanistan. Baluch dissidents make frequent visits to India, the same official said. Bogged down in a decades-long conflict over Kashmir with India on the eastern front, Islamabad does not want to see India opening new fronts on the western border using Afghans or Baluchs.
While the attention of the world is focused on the Taliban militancy movement operating on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border and the US pressing Pakistan to do more, the government in Islamabad is challenged by much more pressing existential threats to its survival, be it sectarian or ethnic rifts. For that, Pakistan believes it needs to watch out for both Iran and India and use its limited resources to develop effective counter strategies of its own rather than fighting somebody else's war.
Pakistan worried over Iranian and Indian activities in Afghanistan - Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news
We have evidence that both Iran and India have been supplying arms and ammunition to the Taliban in Afghanistan, and that is a major concern for us, a senior intelligence official told Today's Zaman. The official spoke under the condition that his name be withheld.
The official said that Iran's primary interest in Afghanistan is to keep the US bogged down in Afghanistan despite the fact that the Taliban and Iran hold different ideologies that are very much at odds with each other. Iran is supporting the Taliban financially, he argued, adding that some of this support may have been diverted to militants operating in safe havens in Afghanistan who frequently launch cross-border attacks against what was perceived as a close ally of the US, Iran's arch enemy.
Officials here in Islamabad do not hide their concern that the militancy in Pakistan might present a much more complicated problem for security agencies in the future if it blends into new fault lines of sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites. Some forces are trying hard to turn this into an all-out sectarian war, but so far they have failed to do so, another security official said, again speaking on condition of anonymity.
In fact, unknown assailants killed 13 people earlier this month in an apparent sectarian attack on a passenger bus carrying Shiite Muslims near the restive southwestern city of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Baluchistan province, bordering Iran and Afghanistan. In another incident that took place in Quetta last month, gunmen carrying rocket launchers and Kalashnikovs attacked a bus bound for Iran, killing 26 Shiite Muslim pilgrims.
During his address to the World Economic Forum in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Saturday, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari made an implicit reference to that threat, saying that Pakistan is located on the political fault lines for being a neighbor of Afghanistan, which has been witnessing the great game of the world powers for decades. He vowed, however, that Pakistanis have great resilience to withstand all such challenges.
Shia Iran's rivalry with Sunni Saudi Arabia, one of Pakistan's most crucial allies, complicates matters for Islamabad even more. Pakistan does not want to become a battleground for the fundamentalist, Wahhabi-driven Saudi ideology and politicized, anti-Western Iranian Shiite ideology. Yet, Pakistan, to some extent, lacks its own narrative to counter these ideological overtures on its own soil. Disturbed by the recent tension between Saudis and Iranians, President Zardari had to make trips to both Tehran and Riyadh in July to diffuse the tension, to no avail. While the Saudis have been trying to enlist Pakistani support against Iran with large sums of cash aid, Iran has been trying to lure energy-hungry Pakistan to its side with sweet deals like gas pipeline projects. Challenged by its own economic problems from rampant inflation to high unemployment, Pakistan, unfortunately, is not in a very strong position to bargain for its own national interests.
Interestingly enough, Iran has been enjoying a legacy of strong ties with India, Pakistan's archenemy on the eastern front. Officials here in Islamabad tell Today's Zaman that they have strong evidence of India's covert activities on Afghan soil to destabilize the western provinces and tribal areas. Kanan Adnan, a full colonel with the 19th division located in the Swat Valley, said his troops confiscated mines and ammunition that were of Indian origin. Even the communications equipment used by militants attacking Pakistani targets comes from India, he said. Expressing frustration that the US and NATO did not do anything when the issue was raised.
An intelligence official, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said that India has some 150 covert offices in Afghanistan to fund Taliban attacks against Pakistan. India has four consular bureaus and many liaison offices in Afghanistan. These do not deal with trade or issues visas. What does that tell you? he asked. We have proof of Indian involvement, he added.
According to Ashraf Azim, president of the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS), an independent, nonprofit research center in Islambad, India wants its own influence in Afghanistan. As long as there is Indian interference in Afghanistan and in some parts of Pakistan, we will not have normal relations with India, he underlined.
Indian's increased interest in Afghanistan is not the only concern for the Pakistani government. According to Pakistani officials, New Delhi has secretly been providing assistance to a separatist movement in the province of Baluchistan, located along Pakistan's west and northwestern borders with Iran and Afghanistan. Baluch dissidents make frequent visits to India, the same official said. Bogged down in a decades-long conflict over Kashmir with India on the eastern front, Islamabad does not want to see India opening new fronts on the western border using Afghans or Baluchs.
While the attention of the world is focused on the Taliban militancy movement operating on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border and the US pressing Pakistan to do more, the government in Islamabad is challenged by much more pressing existential threats to its survival, be it sectarian or ethnic rifts. For that, Pakistan believes it needs to watch out for both Iran and India and use its limited resources to develop effective counter strategies of its own rather than fighting somebody else's war.
Pakistan worried over Iranian and Indian activities in Afghanistan - Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news
