Taliban 'consulted' ex-Pak army chief Gen Bajwa before urging India to send diplomats to Kabul

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met Pakistan's former army chiefGen. Qamar Javed Bajwa before requesting India on sending its diplomats and technical personnel back to Kabul, revealed a book.

The book is written by Hassan Abbas, a professor of international affairs at the National Defence University (NDU), Washington.

India's return to Kabul "could not have happened without Pakistan, and Pakistan acted this way because it just might open up prospects of some aid for the Taliban in Afghanistan," writes Abbas, who contends that Pakistan is as desperate for financial support to run Afghanistan as the Taliban themselves.

The book further asserts that for the sake of "international legitimacy and recognition," Kabul wants to patch things up with New Delhi. It emphasises that India had severed links with Afghanistan when the Taliban took power but has strategic interests in the country, reported Dawn citing the book.

It also makes note of the fact that "India is now seriously reassessing its position and moving towards a balancing act in its effort to engage with the Taliban and help stabilise Afghanistan."

The book states that "the Taliban desire is simple — international legitimacy and recognition" when discussing why the Taliban are ready to repair their relationship with India.

India has the financial means to provide the "huge external investments" that Kabul's new rulers require "to reconstruct and revive the country."

The "Return of the Taliban" illustrates "how as rulers they struggle to reconcile pressures for transition with their rigid ideology," according to Marvin G. Weinbaum, the senior specialist of South Asian affairs in Washington.

It also reveals "the pivotal decisions leading to the Taliban's seizure of power."

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The book tells the story of Taliban minister of finance Hidayatullah Badri, also known as Gul Agha Ishaqzai, and how Muttaqi "personally escorted him to Gen. Bajwa." According to the book, Badri was only given the chance to become the nation's finance minister because of Bajwa's endorsement.

“This trend was an important agenda item in the conversation between ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, and CIA Director William Burns in early May 2022, in Washington. The Pakistani delegation included the former ISI chief Gen Hamid as well,” the book said.

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