Taliban praise India for its Anti US stand

New Delhi: The Taliban has praised India for its anti US stand over the Afghan situation. The Militant outfit called India “a significant country in the region” and said Indians were well aware of the “aspirations, creeds and love for freedom” of the Afghan people.

“It is totally illogical they should plunge their nation into a calamity just for the American pleasure,” Taliban said in a commentary on its English website “Voice of Jehad”. Website followed a visit to New Delhi by US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta this month ahead of America’s planned withdrawal from Afghanistan. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta this month encouraged India to take a more active role in Afghanistan as most foreign combat troops leave in 2014. The Taliban said Panetta had failed. “He spent three days in India to transfer the heavy burden to their shoulders, to find an exit, and to flee from Afghanistan,” the group said on its English website. “Some reliable media sources said that the Indian authorities did not pay heed to (US) demands and showed their reservations, because the Indians know or they should know that the Americans are grinding their own axe.” There had been no assurance for the Americans, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told on Sunday. “It shows that India understands the facts,” he said. India is one of the biggest donors in Afghanistan, spending about $2 billion on projects ranging from the construction of highways to the building of the Afghan parliament. It has also won an iron ore concession in a $11 billion investment. “No doubt that India is a significant country in the region, but is also worth mentioning that they have full information about Afghanistan because they know each other very well in the long history,” the Taliban said. “They are aware of the Afghan aspirations, creeds and love for freedom. It is totally illogical they should plunge their nation into a calamity just for the American pleasure.” India backed the Northern Alliance during the civil war and was frozen out of Afghanistan once the Taliban took over in 1996 until their ouster by US forces. It has since developed close ties with Kabul, prompting Pakistani fears of encirclement. Pakistan has strong traditional links with the Afghan Taliban and other militant groups. Islamabad denies that it uses them as proxies to gain leverage in Afghanistan ahead of any settlement to the war, or in case civil war breaks out after foreign troops leave. Vikram Sood, a former chief of India’s intelligence agency, said the Taliban statement held an implicit warning for India. “It’s more a gentle reminder asking India not to mess around in Afghanistan after the Americans leave,” he told Reuters.