Kerry Confronts Modi with Hard Evidence of Indian Support for Terror in Pakistan
By Riaz Haq
CA
US Secretary of State John Kerry did not openly acknowledge it in pubic but he took Modi to the woodshed with "hard evidence" of India's continuing support of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its chief Mullah Fazlullah currently sheltered in Afghanistan. The US has since put Mullah Fazlullah on its most wanted terrorist list.
A report in Daily Mail News filed by Christina Palmer and Anjali Sharma quotes an unnamed inside source as saying: “The atmosphere in the room after Kerry and Modi had lunch together, changed when Premier Modi very blatantly stated that he and his government were so shocked to hear about the Peshawar School Terror that the schools and both the houses of the Parliament observed moment of silence to mourn the Peshawar School Terror and thus there could be no Indian hand involved in it.” In response, the sources say, Americans "got furious and showed some hard evidences of Mulla Fazalulla and RAW nexus in Afghanistan to influx terror in Pakistan. The American side took the Indian side quite aggressively and also snubbed Modi over the highly objectionable role of his National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval ".
The report adds: "Modi and his team were grilled over the admissions of Ajit Doval of funding and utilizing TTP terrorists to destabilize Pakistan and Modi was asked to tame Doval and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) both in this direction. Modi was told to end India’s patronization of Mulla Fazalulla in Afghanistan and it was made clear to Modi and his team that the US was about to place Mulla Fazalulla on list of global terrorists and an Indian pampering of him would jeopardize the US-India relations and can also have its implications on the upcoming visit of the US President to India".
A post titled "Has Modi India Stepped Up India's Covert War in Pakistan?" posted on December 22, 2014 has been picked up and widely covered by mainstream Pakistani media in the last few weeks. It's reproduced below for those who missed it:
"India has always used Afghanistan as a second front against Pakistan. India has over the years been financing problems in Pakistan".- US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
Chuck Hagel should know what he's talking about when it comes to intelligence. He served on the US Senate Intelligence Committee before he became the Pentagon chief.
How does India "finance problems" in Pakistan? Here are some of the ways it does so:
1. India's intelligence agency RAW uses its long and deep ties with the Afghan Intelligence KhAD (Khadamat-e Aetela'at-e Dawlati, also known as the National Directorate) staffed by openly anti-Pakistan agents who are known to support the Pakistani Taliban (TTP). There are reports that the current TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah is being protected by KhAD agents in Afghanistan. Last year, US troops snatched former TTP chief Hakimullah Mehusd's deputy Latifullah Mesud from Afghan intelligence agents. Apparently, Latifullah had been traveling back and forth across the Pak-Afghan border to coordinate attacks in Pakistan with the Afghan agents.
2. Before writing and promoting an anti-Pakistan book in India, American analyst and author Christine Fair said this in 2009: "Having visited the Indian mission in Zahedan, Iran, I can assure you they are not issuing visas as the main activity! Moreover, India has run operations from its mission in Mazar (through which it supported the Northern Alliance) and is likely doing so from the other consulates it has reopened in Jalalabad and Qandahar along the border. Indian officials have told me privately that they are pumping money into Baluchistan". Prominent Pakistani Baloch insurgents like Brahamdagh Bugti are also being sheltered by the Afghan security and intelligence establishment along with RAW.
3. Another US analyst Laura Rozen explained India-Taliban nexus as follows: "While the US media has frequently reported on Pakistani ties to jihadi elements launching attacks in Afghanistan, it has less often mentioned that India supports insurgent forces attacking Pakistan, the former (US) intelligence official said. "The Indians are up to their necks in supporting the Taliban against the Pakistani government in Afghanistan and Pakistan," the former (US) intelligence official who served in both countries said. "The same anti-Pakistani forces in Afghanistan also shooting at American soldiers are getting support from India. India should close its diplomatic establishments in Afghanistan and get the Christ out of there."
There are signs that India has stepped up its covert war against Pakistan since the election of the Hindu Nationalist government of Prime Minister Modi. The first sign is the appointment of an anti-Pakistan hawk Ajit Doval as Modi's National Security Advisor. As a key part of his long service to India's intelligence establishment, Doval says he served as an undercover RAW agent in Pakistan for seven years.
Given all the circumstantial evidence of Indian support of Baloch insurgents' and TTP's war against Pakistan, the Pakistani security and intelligence establishment cannot rely on counterinsurgency operations like ZarbeAzb alone to stop the civilian carnage on Pakistani streets and schools. The overall counterinsurgency strategy must include serious efforts to cut off support and funding for the TTP and the Baloch insurgents from both domestic and external sources, and disruption of the Indian intelligence network operating against Pakistan from Afghanistan. It will require superior intelligence and significant counter-intelligence operations, as well as an effective narrative and powerful diplomatic offensive to put pressure on India to stop its covert war that is being waged on Pakistani soil.
