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A key American lawmaker has claimed that Pakistan’s position in helping the Taliban is a success for the country’s hardliners, claiming that the current events in Afghanistan and Islamabad’s role in Kabul are not sending a positive message to India.
During a Congressional hearing on Afghanistan on Thursday, Republican Senator Marco Rubio argued that multiple US administrations have ignored Pakistan’s role in helping the Taliban reorganise, while other US senators expressed alarm over Islamabad’s “double dealing.”
“I know there was an announcement today that there will be a Quad meeting pretty soon, which is a positive thing, except that the Indo-Pacific region, if you’re India, you’re looking at this and saying, ‘If the US let Pakistan to unravel its standing,” he added.
“Because of Pakistan’s role in all of this, which I believe has been overlooked by numerous administrations.
“Pakistan’s participation in assisting the Taliban is ultimately a success for the Pakistani government’s pro-Taliban hardliners,” Rubio told Blinken.
On September 24, US President Joe Biden will hold the first in-person Quad summit in Washington, which will include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
According to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, the four leaders will discuss fostering a free and open Indo-Pacific, solving the climate problem, developing their ties, and advancing practical collaboration on issues such as combating COVID-19.
“They (Indians) must be thinking, if the US can have a third-rate power like Pakistan unravel its aims, what chance do they have of facing China?” As a result, I believe we are in a terrible situation,” Rubio stated during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Afghanistan.
He said that the Taliban had a safe refuge in Pakistan for all of these years, even while they suffered casualties.
“They were allowed to relax, refuel, train, and recruit there. So, in brief, we had a bad situation even before the withdrawal. “You know, the security personnel, a small number of US forces, they kept dying,” he stated.
Senator Mike Rounds stated that Pakistan was considering working with the Taliban administration to defeat India.
According to Rounds, Iran’s president has openly termed this a military setback for the US and is considering collaborating with the Taliban.
Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, complained of Pakistan’s “double-dealing” and “providing a safe haven” for the Taliban in his remarks.
Senator James Risch warned Blinken that the US must comprehend Pakistan’s participation in the situation.
After senators voiced fury over Pakistan’s “duplicitous” participation in Afghanistan after 9/11 and requested that Washington reevaluate its relationship with Islamabad, Blinken told irate US lawmakers on Monday that the US will look at the role Pakistan played in the last 20 years.
US lawmakers also pushed the Biden administration to reconsider Pakistan’s status as a significant non-NATO partner.
On August 15, two weeks before the US force pullout was to be completed, the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan.
