India has now come out clearly in relation to Afghanistan. Initially, India’s stance was quite ambivalent after the takeover of Kabul, but prime minister Narendra Modi launched a verbal attack on the Taliban without mentioning their name in one of his speeches a week ago. Later, India’s minister of external affairs spoke strongly against the Taliban at an all-party conference a couple of days ago. India has made it clear that it will try its level best to create some formidable security and diplomatic challenges for the de facto rulers in Kabul. The BJP/RSS-sponsored media seems to have found a new opportunity to step up its attacks on India’s Muslims. Taliban, in my view, are required to respond to growing Indian belligerence against them as early as possible in order to effectively deal with the anti-Taliban activities emanating from New Delhi. That India deserves a “befitting” response from the Taliban is the need of hour. They, for example, address the international press to express their revulsion against India’s machinations and sinister designs against Afghanistan and its people.

Saadat Husain (Lahore)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021