Taliban praises India for resisting America's call for Afghan entanglement

Kabul, June 17 (ANI): In a rare direct comment, the Taliban has said India has done well to resist U.S. calls for greater involvement in Afghanistan.

"Some reliable media sources said that the Indian authorities did not pay heed to (U.S.) demands and showed their reservations, because the Indians know or they should know that the Americans are grinding their own axe," The Express Tribune quoted the Taliban, as saying.

There had been no assurance for the Americans, said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

India is one of the biggest donors in Afghanistan, spending about two billion dollars on projects ranging from the construction of highways to the building of the Afghan parliament.

"No doubt that India is a significant country in the region, but is also worth mentioning that they have full information about Afghanistan because they know each other very well in the long history," the Taliban said.

"They are aware of the Afghan aspirations, creeds and love for freedom. It is totally illogical they should plunge their nation into a calamity just for the American pleasure," the group added.

India backed the Northern Alliance during the civil war and was frozen out of Afghanistan once the Taliban took over in 1996 until their ouster by U.S. forces. It has since developed close ties with Kabul, prompting Pakistani fears of encirclement.

Vikram Sood, a former chief of India's intelligence agency, said the Taliban statement held an implicit warning for India.

"It is more a gentle reminder asking India not to mess around in Afghanistan after the Americans leave," he said. (ANI)