devesh wrote:Rudradev wrote:Cross posting from Afghanistan thread (originally posted by SSridhar ji).
The article (from Reuters, NOT a Paki source) makes it clear that Russia has been backing the Afghan Taliban (Quetta Shura plus Haqqanis) for many years. Obviously this has been facilitated by Pakistan as a mediator. Apparently Moscow has been extending "moral and political support" to the Taliban since 2007 i.e. throughout the period of 2008 & 2009 attacks on Indian embassy in Kabul, 2014 attack on Indian consulate in Herat, etc.
This throws a new light on the alliance that is rapidly burgeoning between Moscow and Islamabad. The common interests between Russia and Pakistan exceed the widely known ambit of Russia-China and China-Pak relations.
It is only in the last year or so that the fruits of close friendship between Putin and Islamabad have finally begun to come "over-ground", with:
- *Russian-Paki joint military exercises, possibly in POK
*Russia's open diplomatic rebuffs against India and in support of Pakistan's terrorist sponsorship at the BRICS summit and Heart of Asia conference
*Russia's support for the CPEC (that runs through Indian territory under lillegal Chinese/Paki occupation)
*Open supply of military equipment to Pakistan by Russia,
etc.
Russia-Taliban ties worry Afghan, US officials - Reuters
nonsensical article which doesn't provide a single shred of evidence other than claims of vague "officials" claiming that they're "worried".
As opposed to MOST public-domain analyses of foreign policy positions... which come bundled with verified copies of leaked diplomatic cables, top-secret cabinet memoranda, and other such "hard" evidence no doubt.
What evidence do YOU offer to substantiate the vacuous claim that negotiations between Moscow and the Afghan Taliban are a "nonsensical" idea?
If Russia had no interest in accommodating the Taliban, why would they have been invited to the table with Beijing, Islamabad, and Kabul to determine Afghanistan's future? This foursome was mooted by China and Pakistan to replace the erstwhile (US-Pak-China-Afghanistan) quadrilateral consultative group, EXACTLY because the US became unwilling to accommodate the Taliban's terms any longer. That was made abundantly clear with the American drone strike on Mullah Akhtar Mansour of 21 May, 2016.
If Russia has been brought on board by China and Pakistan for the reconstituted quadrilateral commission, it is precisely because Russia is happy to countenance (and facilitate) a political role for the Taliban in Afghanistan's future... a position fully in consonance with Chinese and Pakistani preferences, and in stark contrast to the reluctance of the Americans.
Indeed, this very month, Moscow will be hosting a meeting between Russia, Pakistan, and China... (with no Indian, Iranian, or even Afghan representatives invited!)... to discuss the common interests of the three nations in shaping the political future of Afghanistan.
https://sputniknews.com/world/201611141 ... ip-russia/
This should come as no surprise whatsoever to anyone aware of Russian Special Envoy Zamir Kabulov's robust, public defense of both the Taliban and Pakistan at international fora:
http://thewire.in/84672/pakistan-isis-a ... an-russia/
Amritsar: Justifying Russia’s recent overture to Pakistan, the Russian president’s special representative to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said that ISIS in the subcontinent cannot be eliminated without cooperation from Islamabad. Exactly how is this different from the bilge of "al-lie in the war on terror" peddled by Colin Powell, Armitage, et al?
Kabulov, Russia’s most experienced diplomatic hand in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, was in India to attend the annual ministerial meeting of the Heart of Asia process that aims to develop a regional strategy for Afghanistan’s development.
Russia’s move towards Pakistan had been greeted with wariness but understanding in New Delhi. But this understanding was stretched to its limit when Moscow announced that it will hold a first joint military exercise with Pakistan in Gilgit-Baltistan, which India claims as part of Jammu and Kashmir. After India protested, the exercise went ahead but took place in Cherat, in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“We understand all concerns of India about your western neighbour…But we cannot combat (terrorism) efficiently and productively and eliminate (it) without the cooperation of Pakistan. We need their cooperation and they should realise their importance and responsibility,” Kabulov said, justifying Russia’s strategic decision to reach out to Pakistan in order to combat ISIS.
‘More dangerous than the Taliban’
The veteran Russian diplomat, who has also been ambassador to Afghanistan in the past, describes ISIS in Afghanistan as being more insidiously dangerous than the Taliban.
He described the Taliban as a “predominantly a national military-political movement”. “It is local, Afghanistan-based. They believe that they should have, from their perspective, fair share in the government of Afghanistan…They should talk and deal in their local context”.
But Daesh (Arabic name for ISIS) “as an international organisation is really dangerous”. “If you recall, young Taliban under the influence of Al-Qaeda in 1994, their rhetoric was very similar to today’s Daesh rhetoric”.
Among Indian officials, there is some scepticism about the existence of ISIS in Afghanistan. “There is a still a lot of confusion about them. They seem to be largely disgruntled Taliban elements who have formed their own groups and have declared themselves as ISIS,” a senior Indian diplomat said.
However, Kabulov was convinced that stopping ISIS in Afghanistan was a bigger project than stopping the Taliban and that India should be taking note.
There seems little room for doubt that the Russians have concocted a largely fictitious bogey of "ISIS in Afghanistan" to justify their increasingly overt support for Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban. It is highly noteworthy that Kabulov publicly articulates Russia's official position on the Taliban as a "national military-political movement" that simply wants their "fair share" in Afghanistan. This is no different from the Pakistani or Chinese position as far as I can see. It is precisely the position that Washington walked away from, with a parting shot at Mullah Mansour.
Anyone who isn't blinded by dense sentimentality for "India-Russia Bhai Bhai", or clinging to outmoded geopolitical convictions that have long exceeded their shelf life, would recognize what Moscow is now up to with Pakistan and the Taliban.
Russia cannot and will not support Taliban. It would undo the Russian scheme of things in CAR. Russia helping Taliban would probably unravel their position in Uzbekistan faster than they can say "quit".
Vapid rhetorical assertions are no substitute for reasoning, and wither in the face of abundantly available evidence, no matter how many times one might repeat them. All they demonstrate is profound susceptibility to the
"personal incredulity" fallacy... i.e., one is personally unwilling to believe something because it produces too much cognitive dissonance, therefore the thing itself must be untrue.
The idea that Russia would feel constrained in pursuing its interests in Afghanistan because this might "unravel their position" in Uzbekistan is preposterous. Is Russia being run by some "log kya kahengey" dhoti-shiverer in the mold of Manmohan Singh?
Russia sells their latest weaponry to China, which opposes Indian membership in the NSG, blocks the UN sanctioning of anti-India terrorist groups, periodically makes military incursions onto Indian territory with its own PLA, proliferates nuclear weapons to Pakistan, and contrives to build an economic corridor across Indian territory illegally occupied by Pakistan. In recent months Russia has gone several steps further, offering weaponry directly to Pakistan, and engaging in military exercises with the Pakistan army.
Russia does ALL this, has been doing much of it for years, and what has India done in response?
Nothing. India has concluded that it needs Russian energy supplies, Russian diplomatic support, Russian military assistance, Russian technological assistance (especially in the nuclear energy arena) too much to do a goddamn thing about it.
When even mighty India sits quietly on its thumbs while Russia consolidates its growing alliance with China and Pakistan... do you seriously expect Uzbekistan, so much punier and so much more dependent on Moscow, to breathe a murmur of protest when Russia offers moral and diplomatic support to the Taliban?
Russia is increasingly the "jew" for western journalists these days. anything and everything can be blamed on them. an easy and convenient punching bag.
That we know very well. However, this final assertion of your argument resides on the inverse of a
"No True Scotsman" fallacy... the Western Journalists are saying it, and they have a habit of being mean to Russia, so that's enough reason to believe that anything Western Journalists might say about Russia is untrue.
Fact is, the US, Russia, and China are ALL completely untrustworthy from India's perspective. China is a motivated enemy in its own right, the other two are willing to get into bed with both China and Pakistan with no regard whatsoever for Indian interests or sensitivities. We are on our own. Period.
