News Analysis India

Tag: Afghanistan

  • Delhi HC refuses to allow man to go to Afghanistan, says bleak chance of returning

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has refused to grant permission to an Afghan national, who is embroiled in a customs case, to go to Afghanistan to look after his family, saying there is very bleak chance of his coming back to India in view of prevailing circumstances in his country.

    The high court said there was no ground to release the man’s passport and to permit him to leave India without depositing the penalty of Rs 13 lakh imposed on him.

    The man, who was to take the flight to Afghanistan, was intercepted at the airport carrying certain medicines illegally and proceedings were initiated against him after which a redemption fine of Rs 9 lakh, determined as per the value of seized goods, and a penalty of Rs 13 lakh was imposed on him by the Additional Commissioner of Customs.

    ​ALSO READ | ‘Better to wait before judging new Taliban’

    The petitioner has not paid the penalty and wanted to go to Afghanistan on the ground that he has 11 children and his first wife has been killed by terrorists and he has to look after his family.

    Justice Mukta Gupta dismissed his petition, saying “in view of the facts and particularly the fact that there is very bleak chance of the petitioner being able to come back to India, in view of the prevailing circumstances in Afghanistan, this court finds no ground to release the passport of the petitioner and permit him to leave the country without depositing the penalty of Rs 13 lakhs.”

    Initially, the man had approached the court of chief metropolitan magistrate which granted him permission on February 1, 2021, to go to Afghanistan but subject to certain conditions that was challenged by him in the sessions court.

    His revision petition was dismissed in June after which he approached the high court.

    The man’s counsel submitted that he was not in a position to submit the redemption fine of Rs 9 lakhs and Rs 13 lakhs as personal penalty and sought that he be permitted to deposit 20 per cent of the amount and be permitted to go to Afghanistan.

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    The counsel said as the man is not inclined to take the goods back, the redemption fine is not required to be deposited and only penalty has to be paid.

    On a court’s query that whether the man has challenged the Additional Commissioner of Customs’ order in appeal, the counsel replied in negative.

    The high court said in case no appeal has been filed challenging the order, it has attained finality and the man, who was found carrying medicines illegally, is required to pay the penalty of Rs 13 lakhs which is a penalty in personam (against a person).

    “Considering that the adjudication proceedings qua the petitioner have attained finality and the petitioner even does not wish to redeem the articles, is required to deposit the penalty amount, hence this court finds no error in the impugned judgement. Petition is dismissed,” it said.

  • ‘Better to wait before judging new Taliban’

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  India is ready to give time to the Taliban to stay true to its words before any judgement is made about their intentions, said a senior government functionary on Wednesday. 

    Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he said, “As of now, the Taliban has said it will not interfere with Kashmir. So let’s not doubt their statement.” Replying to the question of the Taliban’s effect on Kashmir, the source added, “We are prepared to handle any situation in Kashmir. There have been the presence of foreign terrorists earlier also and we had successfully dealt with them.

    Anas Haqqani had told the media last week that Kashmir is not part of its jurisdiction. But, within two days, Suhail Shaheen had said that as Muslims, the Taliban has rights to support Muslims in Kashmir or any other country. But Taliban leader Sher Muhammed Stanakzai had asked India to continue with its development and humanitarian activities.

    The officer pointed out that if the Taliban has not changed from what it was 20 years back, then it will be a problem for the world and India. More than that it will be a problem for the women of Afghanistan. 

  • Terror faces in Afghan Cabinet makes New Delhi uneasy

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  With the Taliban appointing several UN-sanctioned terrorists in its Cabinet, including Siraj Haqqani of the Haqqani Network, security concerns have grown in New Delhi. Experts believe the Taliban’s move was not surprising and that New Delhi would be prepared to deal with the new Taliban government in Afghanistan despite the presence of Haqqani, who is considered close to the ISI and Al-Qaeda.

    “There is a wider section of people asserting that the Taliban government will lead to augmented insecurity in India. However, the situation is still unfolding and there are strong apprehensions that the Afghanistan-Pakistan border will become more volatile and force Islamabad to maintain its focus more in that region. More importantly, it is pertinent to recall that the biggest threat to Indian security for long has been from ISI, which has used its terror proxies operating out of Pakistani soil against India,” said Ajit Kumar Singh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Conflict Management.

    “There was never a period when ISI was not relentless in its nefarious design to destabilise India. Yet, India has minimised the threat due to the security establishment attuning itself as per demands of the new challenges,” added Singh.

    Russia-based analyst Andrew Korybko said although New Delhi may have concerns over Haqqani’s presence in the Cabinet, it cannot do anything about it. “At most, New Delhi can refuse to recognise the acting government or pragmatically engage with it while pressuring others to do the same. But if someone else decides to still engage with it, India will be powerless to stop them. It can only rely on informational means to discredit these authorities,” he said.

    Singh thinks the Indian security establishment has gained experience in counter-terrorism. “Consequently, there is no such imminent threat due to change of guard in Afghanistan. But there is no scope for complacency and vigil on ground must be increased.”

    ALSO READ | India, Russia share Afghanistan terror overflow worry

    Security concerns have been high since Tuesday after the Taliban declared the formation of its government. Haqqani’s inclusion caught the attention of officials in New Delhi as his group had been involved in bombing at the Indian Embassy in Kabul. He is known to have close ties with anti-India organisations.

    A former diplomat, who did not wish to be named, said there was no surprise in the inclusion of UN-sanctioned terrorists. “I am sure this came as no surprise to New Delhi. The challenge now will be to make sure that Afghan soil is not used by anti-India organisations to spread terror. India must keep engaging with the Taliban and also partner countries to put pressure on them to ensure that Afghan soil does not become a safe haven for terrorists,” he said.

  • India, Russia share Afghanistan terror overflow worry

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  With terror inextricably linked to the DNA of the government unveiled by the Taliban in Afghanistan, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday held separate meetings with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev and CIA chief Williams Burns. During the Doval-Patrushev meeting both sides agreed to coordinate their approaches in multilateral formats on the developments in Afghanistan.

    The Indian stress was on pressuring Pakistan to put a lid on terror overflow from Afghanistan. “We conveyed to the Russians that Pakistan has a special responsibility to ensure that Afghanistan soil is not used to spread terrorism,” sources said.

    Regarding the agenda of the Doval-Patrushev meeting, top officials said the political, security and humanitarian situation in the war-torn country and its possible implications on India and China was discussed at length. The role of drug cartels was also discussed with Doval and his counterpart assuring each other of cooperation to meet current and future threats and measures to assist Afghanistan.

    Doval is understood to have underlined Pakistan deep state’s symbiotic links with terror groups in Afghanistan, such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. He also expressed concern over security of minorities like Afghan Hindus and Sikhs who could not be evacuated.

    Patrushev later met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The two sides reaffirmed their intention to strengthen coordination in the field of enhancing regional stability, including on the Afghan direction,” a Russian Embassy statement said.

    The India-Russia meeting assumes significance as weeks ago, Russia and China had abstained from voting on a joint India-France-US-UK resolution on Afghanistan at the UN Security Council. Earlier in the day, New Delhi shared its Afghan concerns with visiting security heads of Britain and the US, MI-6 chief Richard Moore and CIA chief William Burns, respectively. 

    Call to curb terrorBoth Russia and India agreed on the need for Taliban to adhere to promises, curb global terror groups operating out of Afghanistan and their consequent threat to Central Asia and India, and smuggling

  • India should not do business with this Taliban govt: Yashwant after Afghan caretaker cabinet named

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: As the Taliban announced a caretaker Cabinet, former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday said India cannot and should not do business with the government formed in Afghanistan.

    The Taliban Tuesday announced a caretaker Cabinet, giving top posts to Taliban personalities who dominated the 20-year battle against the US-led coalition and its Afghan government allies.

    ALSO READ: Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund to lead Taliban govt, new Afghan ministers announced

    Mullah Hasan Akhund has been named as the Interim Prime Minister, while Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who had led talks with the United States and signed the deal that led to America’s final withdrawal from Afghanistan, will be one of two deputies to Akhund.

    “India cannot and shd not do business with this Taliban govt in Afghanistan,” Sinha tweeted after the news of the forming of a caretaker government came in.

    Sinha’s remarks come weeks after he, in an interview to PTI, said India should be “open-minded” about dealing with the Taliban and suggested that it should open its embassy in Kabul and send back the ambassador.

    ALSO READ: Turkey President Erdogan cautious on new Afghan government

    Noting that the people of Afghanistan have great love for India while Pakistan is not popular among them, Sinha had said that the Indian government should not conclude that the Taliban will place itself “in Pakistan’s lap” as every country furthers its own interests.

    Sinha was the foreign minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government but became a critic of the Modi government and quit the BJP. He is currently vice president of the Trinamool Congress.

    Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid was quoted by media reports as saying that Amir Khan Muttaqi will be Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister while Mullah Yaqoob, son of Taliban’s founder Mullah Omar, will serve as the acting defence minister.

    Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani Network, will serve as acting interior minister in the interim government, the reports said.

  • Afghan soil should not be source of terrorism for other countries: Russia

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Afghan soil should not be a source of spreading terrorism in other countries of the region and both Russia and India have “common concerns” over it in the backdrop of the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, Russian Ambassador Nikolay Kudashev said on Monday.

    Delving into implications of the latest developments in Afghanistan, the Russian envoy also said that there is a danger of the possible spread of terror into Russian territory as well as Kashmir, noting that India and Russia will continue to work together to counter any threat of terrorism.

    Kudashev told PTI in an interview that Russia would like to see an inclusive government in Afghanistan that is able to ensure security, stability and predictability, adding the issue of recognition to any new dispensation in Kabul is not an immediate area of focus.

    The Russian envoy said that there is “ample scope” for cooperation between India and Russia on Afghanistan and both sides have been in regular touch with each other on the latest developments in the war-torn country.

    “Both India and Russia are concerned about the situation in Afghanistan. We want an inclusive government. We want that the Afghan soil should not be a source of terror for other countries in the region,” Kudashev said.

    “These are the very basic values that bring Russia and India together. I do not see much of a difference in our position on Afghanistan,” he said.

    Asked whether Russia is concerned about the possible export of terrorism to Russia from Afghanistan, the envoy said “definitely” and noted that any escalation of the civilian conflict would be detrimental to the regional security scenario.

    “As far as the phenomena of terror are concerned, we do share our concerns with India. There is a danger of terror being spread to the Russian territory and the territory of Kashmir. This is a matter of common concern,” Kudashev said, replying to a question on the possibility of various terror groups operating from Afghanistan shifting focus from the war-ravaged country.

    Asked about Pakistan backing various terror groups operating in Afghanistan and whether they pose a threat to regional security, Kudashev said Russia expects Pakistan to be among the countries that would like to see predictability and a secure environment in Afghanistan.

    There have been mounting concerns in India over the possibility of a rise in activities of various terror groups, including Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

    Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal met senior Taliban leader Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai in Doha last Tuesday.

    In the meeting, Mittal conveyed to Stanekzai that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism.

    It was the first publicly acknowledged formal engagement between the two sides.

    Kudashev said tackling the threat of terror has been a matter of continued dialogue between Russia and India under multiple frameworks, including the bilateral mechanism of the counter-terror working group.

    “Counter-terrorism is part of each and every bilateral meeting. Rest assured we know about this danger and we are most willing to cooperate to deal with it,” he said.

    The Russian envoy said his country would like to see the “future in Afghanistan with optimism” and there is a need to give some time to any new dispensation in Afghanistan.

    “We are for an inclusive government in Afghanistan that can ensure sustainable development in the war-torn country. The Afghan people deserve peace, stability, and sustainable development just as any other nation in the world,” Kudashev said.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 24 discussed the developments in Afghanistan over a week after its capital Kabul fell to the Taliban.

    After the conversation, Russia said the two leaders expressed the intention to enhance cooperation to counter the dissemination of “terrorist ideology” and the drug threat emanating from Afghanistan and agreed to form a permanent bilateral channel for consultations on the issue.

    Russia has been a key player in pushing for the Afghan peace process before the Taliban captured power in Kabul.

  • Taliban stop planes of evacuees from leaving but unclear why

    By PTI

    KABUL: At least four planes chartered to evacuate several hundred people seeking to escape the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan have been unable to leave the country for days, officials said Sunday, with conflicting accounts emerging about why they flights weren’t able to take off as pressure ramps up on the United States to help those left behind to flee.

    An Afghan official at the airport in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif said that the would-be passengers were Afghans, many of whom did not have passports or visas, and thus were unable to leave the country.

    He said they had left the airport while the situation was sorted out. “The top Republican on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, however, said that the group included Americans and they were sitting on the planes, but the Taliban were not letting them take off, effectively “holding them hostage.” He did not say where that information came from. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the accounts.

    The final days of America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan were marked by a harrowing airlift at Kabul’s airport to evacuate tens of thousands of people Americans and their allies who feared what the future would hold, given the Taliban’s history of repression, particularly of women.

    When the last troops pulled out on August 30, though, many were left behind. The US promised to continue working with the new Taliban rulers to get those who want to leave out, and the militants pledged to allow anyone with the proper legal documents to leave.

    But Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas told “Fox News Sunday” that American citizens and Afghan interpreters were being kept on six planes.

    “The Taliban will not let them leave the airport,” he said, adding that he’s worried “they’re going to demand more and more, whether it be cash or legitimacy as the government of Afghanistan.” He did not offer more details.

    The Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said it was four planes, and their intended passengers were staying at hotels while authorities worked out whether they might be able to leave the country.

    The sticking point, he indicated, is that many did not have the right travel papers. Residents of Mazar-e-Sharif also said the passengers were no longer at the airport. At least 10 families were seen at a local hotel waiting, they said, for a decision on their fates. None of them had passports or visas but said they had worked for companies allied with the US or German military.

    Others were seen at restaurants. The small airport at Mazar-e-Sharif only recently began to handle international flights and so far only to Turkey. The planes in question were bound for Doha, Qatar, the Afghan official said. It was not clear who chartered them or why they were waiting in the northern city.

    The massive airlift happened at Kabul’s international airport, which initially closed after the US withdrawal but where domestic flights have now resumed.

    Searing images of that chaotic evacuation, including people clinging to an airplane as it took off, came to define the final days of America’s longest war, just weeks after Taliban fighters retook the country in a lightning offensive.

    Since their takeover, the Taliban have sought to recast themselves as different from their 1990s incarnation, when they last ruled the country and imposed repressive restrictions across society.

    Women and girls were denied work and education, men were forced to grow beards, and television and music were banned.

    Now, the world is waiting to see the face of the new government, and many Afghans remain skeptical.

    In the weeks since they took power, signals have been mixed: Government employees including women have been asked to return to work, but some women were later ordered home by lower-ranking Taliban.

    Universities and schools have been ordered open, but fear has kept both students and teachers away. Women have demonstrated peacefully, some even having conversations about their rights with Taliban leaders. But some have been dispersed by Taliban special forces firing in the air.

    Some signs of normalcy have also begun to return. Kabul’s streets are again clogged with traffic, as Taliban fighters patrol in pickup trucks and police vehicles, brandishing their automatic weapons and flying the Taliban’s white flag. Schools have opened, and moneychangers work the street corners.

    Among the promises the Taliban have made is that once the country’s airports are up and running, Afghans with passports and visas would be allowed to travel.

    More than 100 countries issued a statement saying they would be watching to see that the new rulers held to their commitment.

    Technical teams from Qatar and Turkey arrived in recent days and are working to get the civilian airport operational. On Saturday, state-run Ariana Airlines made its first domestic flights, which continued on Sunday.

    The airport is without radar facilities, so flights are restricted to daylight hours to allow for visual landing, said official Shershah Stor. Several countries have also been bringing in humanitarian supplies.

    The Gulf state of Qatar, where the Taliban maintained a political office since 2013, is making daily flights into Kabul, delivering humanitarian aid for the war-weary nation. Bahrain also announced humanitarian assistance deliveries.

    Meanwhile, the Taliban stepped up an assault on the last remaining pocket of resistance being led by fighters opposed to their rule.

    The anti-Taliban fighters in Panjshir province, north of the Afghan capital, are being led by former vice president Amrullah Saleh, who has appealed for humanitarian aid to help the thousands of people displaced by the fighting.

    A senior Taliban spokesman tweeted Sunday that Taliban troops had overrun Rokha district, one of largest of eight districts in Panjshir.

    Several Taliban delegations have attempted negotiations with the holdouts there, but talks have failed to gain traction.

    Saleh fled to Panjshir after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani quit Afghanistan as the Taliban marched on the capital.

    The fighters’ lightning blitz across the country took less than a week to overrun some 300,000 government troops, most of whom surrendered or fled.

  • Envoy hopes India backs Russia’s view on Afghanistan

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  As the Taliban move closer to forming the government in Afghanistan, the Russian envoy to India has voiced support for a democratic and neutral government in Afghanistan. He hoped that India, too, would support such a government.

    “Russia is very much committed to a peaceful, democratic and neutral Afghanistan. I believe that India could share these feelings. These feelings reflected in our bilateral cooperation in multiple formats like SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group,” said Russian Ambassador to India, Nikolay Kudashev, on Friday.

    Ambassador Kudashev said India-Russia friendship is a much needed and almost guaranteed partnership for world peace. “India-Russia friendship is one more guarantee of peaceful and stable development of our countries, of the region and the world. The main feature of our privileged strategic partnership is the peaceful orientation.”

    Before the Taliban seized control of Kabul on August 15, Russia had played a proactive role in the Afghan peace process and hosted the Taliban leaders in Russia. Also, the Russian Embassy in Kabul kept functioning during the tumultuous days. 

    On Friday, while speaking at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed hope that the Taliban would behave in a “civilised” manner in Afghanistan so that the global community can maintain diplomatic ties with Kabul. “The sooner the Taliban enters the family of civilised people, so to speak, the easier it will be to contact, communicate and somehow influence and ask questions,” Putin said.

    The Russian Ambassador spoke to mediapersons on the sidelines of a commemorative event which he attended with the Vice Chief of the Indian Army, Lt Gen CP Mohanty to honour the Indian Red Star awardees late Havildar Gajendra Singh and late Subedar Narayan Rao Nikkam who were part of the Supply and Transport Company during World War II and contributed greatly to the Russian campaign, which the Russians refer to as the Great Patriotic War.

  • People in Afghanistan are happy with Taliban rule, says Jharkhand Congress MLA

    Express News Service

    RANCHI: Irfan Ansari, Congress MLA from Jharkhand’s Jamtara, has once again has landed in controversy by saying that people in Afghanistan are happy with the Taliban rule and it is the US forces which had been doing atrocities on the women and children in Afghanistan. Notably, Ansari is also among three Congress MLAs who have been named for conspiring to topple the JMM-led alliance government in Jharkhand.

    After attending the first day of the monsoon session of Jharkhand Assembly on Friday, Ansari also said Taliban is fighting a battle against the atrocities of the US forces over the women and children of Afghanistan. “People in Afghanistan are happy with Taliban rule. It is the American forces which had been doing atrocities on the women and children in Afghanistan. This is a battle against those atrocities and the rest is propaganda by the outsiders,” he said.

    The BJP has strongly opposed Ansari’s statement saying that this is a reflection of a thinking due to which the whole world is suffering. It also demanded CM Hemant Soren to clear his stand on the statement made by Ansari.

    “The entire world is watching the actual face of Taliban. These kind of radical Islamists have been helping such forces to nurture. If Ansari likes Taliban so much, he is free to move to Afghanistan,” said Jharkhand State BJP spokesperson Pradeep Sinha. “Such kind of thinking will not be allowed to get nurtured and if someone tries to give shelter to them, stringent action will be taken against them,” he added.

    “I also demand CM Hemant Soren to clear his stand on this statement. Being the Chief Minister, he must tell people whether he also agrees to the statement made by Irfan Ansari, or he differs with it,” said Sinha.

    It is a well established fact that the three MLAs – Irfan Ansari, Uma Shankar Akela and Amit Yadav were present in a Delhi Hotel on July 15 along with the three Maharsashta BJP leaders for holding secret parley with two of Maharashtra based BJP leaders allegedly for toppling the Hemant Soren government. Ansari even confessed his Delhi visit but denied his involvement in the shady deal.

  • EAM Jaishankar speaks to British counterpart Dominic Raab on situation in Afghanistan

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his British counterpart Dominic Raab on Wednesday on the situation in Afghanistan, their second such conversation in a week.

    India has been in constant touch with all major countries on the fast-paced developments in Afghanistan, particularly after the Taliban took control of the country on August 15.

    “Nice speaking again to UK Foreign Secretary @DominicRaab.

    Conversation focused on Afghanistan related developments,” Jaishankar tweeted.

    The Jaishankar-Raab conversation came a day after the US completed the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan, ending its two-decade war in the country.

    The external affairs minister spoke to Raab on August 25 as well on the Afghan crisis.

    On Wednesday, Jaishankar also spoke to Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi.

    “Good to talk to Omani Foreign Minister @badralbusaidi. Discussed Afghanistan and Covid. Thank Oman for supporting our repatriation flights,” Jaishankar tweeted.

     READ MORE | In Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley, anti-Taliban forces fight on

    India has been closely monitoring the unfolding developments in Afghanistan.

    Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal met senior Taliban leader Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai in Doha on Tuesday, in the first formal and pubicly acknowledged contact between the two sides.

    The meeting took place at the Indian embassy in Doha at the request of the Taliban side and came two weeks after the outfit seized control of Kabul.

    India has been a key stakeholder in Afghanistan and it has invested nearly USD 3 billion in carrying out nearly 500 projects across Afghanistan.

    The UN Security Council, under India’s presidency, on Monday adopted a resolution demanding that the territory of Afghanistan not be used to threaten any country or shelter terrorists.

    There have been mounting concerns in India over the possibility of rise in activities of various terror groups, including Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

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