Taliban intelligence chief makes secret visit to India, report says
A well-informed source told Eraf that Abdul Haq Wasiq, the head of the Taliban administration’s intelligence agency, travelled to India about 10 days ago on an unannounced visit and met with security and political officials there. According to the source, the trip was arranged in a “completely confidential” manner and, unlike recent public movements by Taliban officials, no official information was released about it.
Details of the meetings, the focus of the talks and any possible agreement between the two sides have not been made public so far. However, the timing of the visit, amid heightened security and political tensions between the Taliban administration and Pakistan, has increased its significance.
Relations between the Taliban administration and Pakistan have fallen to their lowest level in recent months, with mutual accusations, border clashes and security tensions continuing between the two sides. Islamabad has repeatedly accused Kabul of sheltering Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, but the Taliban administration has denied the allegation.
On the other side, the Taliban administration has described Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory as a “violation of national sovereignty,” and some officials in the administration have accused Islamabad of provocative behaviour. In this atmosphere, the secret visit of the Taliban intelligence chief to India could signal the continuation of sensitive security contacts amid the crisis with Pakistan.
Media reports show that ties between India and the Taliban administration have expanded over the past two years, and New Delhi has hosted several senior officials from the administration as part of what it has described as a policy of “careful engagement.” In recent months, Amir Khan Muttaqi, Nooruddin Azizi, Noor Jalal Jalali and Ataullah Omari, all officials of the Taliban administration, have travelled to India.
During this period, India has also condemned Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghanistan alongside trade and health cooperation, and has voiced support for Afghanistan’s “national sovereignty”; a stance welcomed by the Taliban administration. Even so, it remains unclear what message Wasiq’s latest trip will send for regional ties and the ongoing tensions between Kabul and Islamabad.
Abdul Haq Wasiq has previously travelled to Qatar several times on unannounced visits and attended behind-the-scenes meetings with the United States and some regional countries. He remains on the UN Security Council’s 1988 sanctions list, which includes a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo, and under which any foreign trip he makes must be authorised by the Security Council.
