Pakistan Has Failed to Curb India’s Influence in Afghanistan, Indian Analyst Says
Raghav Sharma, head of the Afghanistan Studies Centre at O.P. Jindal Global University in India, has said that despite years of Pakistani support for the Taliban administration, Islamabad has been unable to fully reduce India’s influence in Afghanistan.
Referring to the Taliban’s expanding ties with India, Sharma said this was evidence of Pakistan’s failure to limit New Delhi’s role in Afghanistan. According to him, security tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban over the activities of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as well as Islamabad’s failure to expand trade with Central Asian countries, are further signs of the failure of Pakistan’s policy toward Afghanistan.
The Indian analyst said Pakistan had sought, by backing the Taliban, to increase its own influence in Afghanistan and reduce India’s influence, but developments since the Taliban returned to power have shown that this goal has not been achieved.
Sharma described India’s approach to engaging with the Taliban as pragmatic and based on safeguarding national interests. In his view, India is trying to manage its relations with the Taliban administration in line with the political situation in Afghanistan in order to preserve its position and interests in the country.
