Indian spy agency the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has ties with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an Indian analyst wrote in Hindustan Times’ opinion piece. The RAW-TTP link was publicly revealed in April this year by TTP former commander, Ehsanullah Ehsan.
Bharat Karnad, the author of “Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)”, writes, “Severing relations with TTP will mean India surrendering an active card in Pakistan and a role in Afghanistan as TTP additionally provides access to certain Afghan Taliban factions.”
The Abdul Ghani regime’s desire for India’s presence and the tested friendship with Abdul Rashid Dostum and his Tajik-dominated ‘Northern Alliance’ ensures that no solution for peace in Afghanistan can be cobbled together without India’s help”.
Karnad commented on US defence secretary’s trip to India this week that “as a former head of the US Central Command Mattis appreciates Pakistan’s indispensability as base for military operations to bring the Taliban in Afghanistan to their knees. But Islamabad has insisted that India’s role in Afghanistan be restricted and complained about the Indian support for the TTP accused by Islamabad of terrorism in Pakistan.”
The analyst suggests that the US secretary would ask India to moderate its TTP support. However, he maintained that the US official returning home empty-handed would not hurt relations with the US as China’s growing influence cannot be countered without India.