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Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
Pakistan's initial reluctance to join the US-led proposed attack against the Taleban militia in Afghanistan stemmed from its apprehension that it would alienate the Afghan militants involved in Islamabad's proxy-war against India in Kashmir, a top home ministry official contended on Saturday.
With Taleban's supreme leader Mullah Omar rejecting the American demand to hand over prime suspect in the recent US terrorist attacks, Osama bin Laden, the stage is set for an imminent attack on Afghanistan.
"The MHA has intercepted Pakistan's message to the Afghan militants in Kashmir to stay on. And we know for a fact that the Afghan militants are raring to return to Afghanistan and some of them have already done so to defend their country against the attack. That is what is worrying Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf," the official told rediff.com.
These facts were conveyed to Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani by the Research and Analysis Wing chief Arun Sood and his Intelligence Bureau counterpart R P Singh, the official underscored.
Significantly, Advani on Friday talked to the US ambassador Robert Blackwill and conveyed New Delhi's views on the ongoing global fight against terrorism, he said.
"But our political leadership is reconciled that despite the global fight against terrorist, India will have to wage its own battle against cross-border terrorism inspired by Pakistan. We have proved that we can fight against terrorism, which we have done during the last four decades in various parts of the country," the official pointed out.
He admitted that even as India had offered all assistance to the Americans in the fight against terrorism, it had categorically rejected the notion in some quarters that it was quintessentially a fight between Islam and the western democracies.
"We categorically reject this view because India has more Muslims than Pakistan and we have many Arab friends," he pointed out.
Referring to the ongoing discussions in various US circles about the post-Taleban scenario in Afghanistan, he said, "Islamabad is bound to demand that a pro-Pakistan regime be installed in Kabul."
"But the Americans would not easily be persuaded in this regard because they don't want the Taleban to be replaced by another hardline Islamic regime," the official contended.
Asked to comment on recent media reports that Osama bin Laden might possibly have left Afghanistan to surreptitiously seek refuge in another country, the official said, "This is possible."
He pointed out that western intelligence agencies had mentioned about Osama seeking medical help in Quetta and Peshawar, which could not be possible without the active help of the Pakistani authorities.
He said US Secretary of State General Colin Powell was aware about such Pakistani 'nexus', but it had been downplayed in light of Islamabad's willingness to help out in the imminent attack against Afghanistan.
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