ISI unapologetic about ties with Taliban, says American scholar
Following the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, experts in the region, have renewed their focus on the country's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. Writing for the National Interest magazine, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Michael Rubin said the ISI did not create the Taliban, but they co-opted them and, have used them as a tool of Pakistani policy.
"Pakistan's ISI chiefs have been unapologetic about their relations with the Taliban and their role in the movement's victory over the United States and its Afghan allies."
This comes as the international community has raised questions on Pakistan's role in the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Experts believe that Pakistan's reputation has declined since the Taliban's take over Afghanistan.
Jane Perlez, in an article for The New York Times, said Pakistan's already shaken reputation in the Western countries has plummeted now, after the Taliban's swift take over the country. Last month, a call was being made to sanction Pakistan for the backing Taliban assault of Afghanistan.
To add to this, Pakistan intelligence chief Faiz Hameed made an emergency trip last month, to resolve an evolving internal crisis in the Taliban after the reports emerged about the class between the two factions of the Taliban.
According to Micheal Rubin, Hameed's emergency visit affirmed that they are merely an ISI puppet. Experts believe that Islamabad has been a key player in removing the elected Afghan government from power and establishing the Taliban as a decisive powering Afghanistan.
While the other stakeholders are restraining themselves to recognise the new Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Pakistan is in a hurry to somehow recognize and boost the caretaker "Islamic Emirate".
Some Pakistani ministers and few other opposition leaders have openly promoted the Taliban regime, while the official line is that recognizing the new regime should come only after the conditions that the Taliban themselves have assured, are actually met.
(With inputs from ANI)
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