Kabul castigated Islamabad for its “reckless, unwarranted and irresponsible” efforts to use the US-led Afghan peace process to force American mediation in Kashmir

NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s desperate efforts to use its so-called Afghanistan card to underscore its equities in both Kabul and Kashmir suffered a significant blow on Monday when Kabul castigated Islamabad for its “reckless, unwarranted and irresponsible” efforts to use the US-led Afghan peace process to force American mediation in Kashmir. 

The assertion by Afghanistan’s ambassador to the US, Roya Rahmani, follows the warning last week by her Pakistani counterpart Asad Majeed Khan that Pakistan would be compelled to move troops from its western border with Afghanistan to its eastern front because of ongoing tensions over Kashmir. 

Islamabad also wants to have its Taliban proxies in power in Kabul so it can revert to using Afghanistan as a “strategic depth” against India. 

Rahmani, in a stinging rebuke of Khan, said that Kashmir was “a bilateral issue” between India and Pakistan and that linking it with the US-led Afghanistan peace process bared Islamabad’s “sinister intention” to prolong violence in the country. 

On Monday, US President Donald Trump, in a 30-minute phone call with PM Narendra Modi, “conveyed the importance of reducing tensions between India and Pakistan and maintaining peace in the region”, a brief White House readout issued late Monday night said. 

The two leaders, it further said, discussed how they will continue to strengthen US-India economic ties through increased trade, and that “they look forward to meeting again soon”. According to an MEA readout, Modi “highlighted the importance of creating an environment free from terror and violence and eschewing cross-border terrorism without exception”. 

The conversation follows Trump’s recent talk with Imran Khan during which he stressed that Islamabad should settle its issues with India bilaterally. This was Modi’s and Trump’s first conversation since the G20 meeting. Interestingly, Modi referred to the 100th anniversary of Afghanistan’s freedom on Monday. 

“The PM,” MEA said, “reiterated India’s longstanding commitment to work for united, secure, democratic and truly independent Afghanistan.” 

The development came even as it was revealed that the suicide bomber who attacked a Shia-Hazara wedding in Kabul on Saturday and killed 63 was a man named Abu Asim Al-Pakistani. While Islamic State took credit, it appeared to have got it done with a hireling from one of Pakistan’s sectarian outfits.