Afghans Are Cheering for an Indian Win

[ProudPak]

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/02/28/afghans-are-cheering-for-an-indian-win/

KABUL— “Anyone who takes the side of Pakistan and blames India, please unfriend [me] from Facebook, otherwise I will [say things that] upset you,” Mohammad Iqbal Afzali wrote on social media on Tuesday. A quick scroll through his Facebook feed reveals a strong stance in support of India’s recent cross-border airstrikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed targets in Balakot, Pakistan, following the Feb. 14 terrorist attack on an Indian Army convoy.

If you didn’t know better, you’d think Afzali was an Indian nationalist. But, in fact, he’s an Afghan, just one of a chorus of voices in Kabul who support the Indian moves. Even though he spent several years in Pakistan as a refugee at the height of the Afghan conflict in the 1990s, Afzali doesn’t remember his hosts fondly. “Well, [India] attacked after Pakistan’s offense. When an enemy attacks, we must give them an answer. That’s what India did, and they did very well,” he said.

Qudratullah Andar Sultani, a former government official, agreed. “If America can attack a country for the sake of their national defense, then why can’t India? They too were under pressure to do something,” he said.

Afzali and Sultani are not alone. Afghans are not only maintaining support for India but calling for an escalation in a conflict that has gripped South Asia since the February attack that killed dozens of Indian soldiers. Strikes and counterstrikes have heightened tensions, though the release of a captured Indian Air Force pilot by Pakistan looks set to be a powerful gesture of good faith.

Afghanistan would inevitably be drawn into any India-Pakistan clash—a hard sell in a country that’s already known decades of conflict. Last week, Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul made comments suggesting that any aggression from India could affect Afghanistan, earning him the ire and a diplomatic demarche from the Afghan government. Islamabad has played a crucial role in facilitating the ongoing peace talks between the United States and the Taliban.

But many Afghans also see the Pakistani establishment as a key supporter of the Taliban insurgency in their country. New air and sea routes are connecting Afghanistan to the wider region, reducing previous dependency on Pakistan, and Afghans fear that Pakistan is looking to widen its leverage. Afghanistan even protested a scheduled meeting between the Taliban and Pakistan earlier this month, raising the issue with the U.N. Security Council, stating it “amounts to the official recognition and legitimization of an armed group that poses a serious threat to the security and stability of Afghanistan.” Pakistani Foreign Minister S.M. Qureshi told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that India’s airstrikes could affect the ongoing Afghan peace process.

On the other hand, India is viewed favorably by many Afghans as the enemy of their enemy.

India is viewed favorably by many Afghans as the enemy of their enemy. India’s investment—of more than $3 billion—in the economic reconstruction of Afghanistan, as well as several smaller development projects, has bolstered India’s popularity.
Pakistan’s connection to terrorism alarms Afghans. “Pakistan has been using terrorism as a tool and tactic,” said Rahmatullah Nabil, a former Afghan spy chief and current contender in the upcoming Afghan presidential elections. Nabil not only approves of India’s airstrikes but feels that they should have happened sooner. “India should have done this much earlier,” he said. “I hope Iran will also take action against Jaish-ul-Adl. Because if the U.S. leaves the region—and we hope they leave behind a good legacy—but if they simply withdraw, that will give the sense of victory to all terrorist networks not just in the region but on the other side as well.” Nabil claims that, according to his confidential sources, there are 45 to 48 terrorist networks in Pakistan created for different purposes.

Nabil is cheered by a stronger India, seeing it as a power that can pressure Pakistan enough for Afghanistan and the United States to gain leverage in the peace talks. Recalling the vacuum left behind after the Soviet withdrawal that gave rise to various powers and internal conflict, Nabil urged the United States to seek guarantees from Pakistan and set up a system of oversight to ensure that the terrorist groups are neutralized before they withdraw. “My main worry right now is not about the Taliban or U.S. withdrawal but that Pakistan will turn into a bully in the region” after the United States withdraws, he said. “They will start thinking that they were the ones who defeated Russians, and now they are the ones to defeat the U.S. and NATO. They have an expansionist agenda, and they are armed.”

For other Afghans, though, the horror of war is first and foremost. “No one more than Afghans knows the misery of war and violence—whether it is violence as a means used by establishments and countries or terrorist groups,” said Orzala Ashraf Nemat, the director of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, a Kabul-based think tank, noting that Afghanistan is deeply dependent on both countries for support and daily life would be badly hit by conflict.

Another serious concern is the use of Afghanistan as a battlefield for proxy wars between other powers, an all-too-familiar experience. “Afghans have experienced this form of escalation of war and proxy wars in the past two, three decades. So if the Afghans are at all wise, they will not allow Afghan territory to be used as a proxy,” she said.

Soon taliban will return and all these posters will be rounded up. Dont worry. Payback is an indian bitch slap cup of tes

 

[baajey]

well not much has changed but i still havent found 4 sane indians together on a thread.

......its not unusual to be blind for a self acclaimed troll who retired.

 

[ProudPak]

These are northern alliance traitors soon to run from kabul. Will be tracked whem the taliban return and executed

 

[I S I]

Namak Haram Afghandoos.

But, in fact, he’s an Afghan, just one of a chorus of voices in Kabul who support the Indian moves. Even though he spent several years in Pakistan as a refugee at the height of the Afghan conflict in the 1990s, Afzali doesn’t remember his hosts fondly.

 

[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

Afghan women in the US seems not to care. At least three are married into our extended family from California.As for these overly nationalist afghans, no one cares buddy! Even we are so aloof from their BS that we have been helping Afghan refugees in Texas with 2-3 weeks worth of rations, computers & household goods and will continue to do so as we dont look at them as Afghans some of whom may not like our country but as Muslims.

 

[Kakaspai]

Hehehe guess we have to capture and return their pilot too.

 

[El Sidd]

......its not unusual to be blind for a self acclaimed troll who retired.

bajaay kia baja raha Ho?

 

[zulu]

azaad shehri yahi hota hai

Itnay manoos ho gayee sayyad sy hum........aab rahai milli tu mar jain gy """"

 

[TOPGUN]

Are you high?
I'm a pakistani too, but I'm Afghan by race

No I don't do drugs … but who knows what you are on. If you are Pakistani then show some self respect and pride when it comes to your country. The Afghans hate us and are friends with india " Just read the thread heading news should spell it out for you " I have nothing against the Afghans until they starting to face Pakistan .. where in reality we should be brothers your Afghans are in love with india.

Lol.. Sure....and let's not forget the mythical Indian pilot who is still recovering in the Pakistani hospital





Children don't fight. We don't want either of you to be Indian.

I cant speak for others perhaps even you but no children here, as for being indian It would be a shameful day for me for the rest of my life you can keep your identity no thank you lolz.

 

[maximuswarrior]

Have the Indians won yet? Any update?

 

[Sully3]

Afghans sell their mothers for an asylum to Europe all the time, so no suprises here.

 

[Pakhtoon yum]

No I don't do drugs … but who knows what you are on. If you are Pakistani then show some self respect and pride when it comes to your country. The Afghans hate us and are friends with india " Just the thread heading news should spell it out for you " I hate nothing against the Afghans until they starting to face Pakistan .. where in reality we should be brothers your Afghans are in love with india.



I cant speak for others perhaps even you but no children here, as for being indian It would be a shameful day for me for the rest of my life you can your identity no thank you lolz.

Wtf are u talking abt? What are you? If ur sindhi then u are on the Indian side too, if ur punjabi then ur on the Indian side too. Why?
Because it's a fu$king race and races arent specific to one nation. @waz can you check all this out

 

[TOPGUN]

Wtf are u talking abt? What are you? If ur sindhi then u are on the Indian side too, if ur punjabi then ur on the Indian side too. Why?
Because it's a fu$king race and races arent specific to one nation. @waz can you check all this out

Wtf you talking about you are waste of time, you your self don't what you are saying.

 

[Armstrong]

Wtf are u talking abt? What are you? If ur sindhi then u are on the Indian side too, if ur punjabi then ur on the Indian side too. Why?
Because it's a fu$king race and races arent specific to one nation. @waz can you check all this out

Wtf you talking about you are waste of time, you your self don't what you are saying.

Oi...behave you two!

 

[fitpOsitive]

Already know those Kabulis would say that- nothing unexpected.

However, the Taliban are coming back and such voices will find serious opposition apparently.

Only few paid Afghans speak against Pakistan. General public likes Pakistan and in favor of us. I am sure that if Pakistan takes over Afghanistan there will be no resistance. And only Pakistan can do that.