The strength of IS in Afghanistan has touched 4,000, a development which could spell trouble for India. Mohammad Umer Daudzai, the chief executive of the Afghan High Peace Council, admitted that while IS was a problem in the country, Taliban was still the number one priority.
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“Taliban is a rural phenomenon,’’ he said, at an Indian Council for World Affairs interaction. “IS is more urbane and academic. We see them in universities, professors, and our forces have traced them and caught them. Some of the attacks that have taken place in cities have been traced to universities,” he said.
Daesh (IS) and Taliban were different, he remarked. “In terms of territory, in provinces bordering Pakistan, we saw Taliban fighting Daesh. But, in other areas like Kunduz, they were collaborating,” he revealed.
So far, Afghan leaders have always dismissed the idea of IS in Afghanistan, suggesting other groups were banding under the IS flag. The presence of IS among academics in Afghanistan is certainly worrying, in a post-Sri Lanka scenario, especially for India.
Daudzai, however, is in India not to talk about security, but peace. He met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Over the last few weeks, India has been in the loo on peace consultations. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, negotiating the deal with the Taliban, arrived a week before. Last week, the Chinese special envoy ambassador Deng Xijun held discussions with Indian officials on the situation in Afghanistan, including peace and reconciliation efforts. “He also called on Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale,’’ tweeted Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson of the MEA.
“India plays a key role in the peace process,’’ said Daudzai. India can help Afghanistan get more global support, he added. One thing is clear. The peace process is not likely to happen in a hurry. Not before the [Afghan] presidential elections in September. “The US has changed its stance,’’ he said. It was thought that the peace deal would be negotiated first, and then the elections would come. However, Daudzai made it clear that "there will be no peace before the elections." The question then is whether the elections would have any legitimacy? Especially if the peace deal is hammered out later. The solution, Daudzai says, could be an interim government.
