India’s Bonhomie With Taliban Could Help Rein In Islamic Terrorists In Afghanistan – Analysis

P. K. Balachandran

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The Al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and its cognate Jihadi groups are based in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan

India’s much publicised bonhomie with the Taliban is not just to create a two-front conflict in Pakistan, but also to rein in the “Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent” or AQIS and other radical Islamist outfits ensconced in Afghanistan.

The AQIS is an offshoot of Al Qaeda Central (AQC) led first by Osama bin Laden (1957-2011) and later by Ayman al Zawahiri (1951-2022).

It was in September 2014 that the AQC launched the AQIS to carry out Jehadi and terrorist activities in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, with its leadership based in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In his paper entitled “Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent” published by The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism at The Hague, Alastair Reed says that the AQIS had three objectives – (1) counteracting the breakaway Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Daesh, (2) expanding AQC’s activities in South Asia and (3) continuing to function in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the Americans.

AQIS’ presence in Afghanistan was needed both to have secure bases and to see that the Taliban was committed to the Sharia and Jihad in Afghanistan as well as the South Asia region as a whole.

Ghazwa-al-Hind

The AQIS coined the term “Ghazwa-al-Hind” (Battle of India) for the task before it in South Asia. Afghanistan and Pakistan were made the headquarters of the “Ghazwa-al-Hind” project. Most Pakistan-based Jihadist groups have framed their attacks on Indian soil as part of the “Ghazwa -al-Hind”.

The AQIS recruited fighters and united different pre-existing Jihadi groups in the Indian Subcontinent. The groups brought under the AQIS were – Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) (Bangladesh and Pakistan), Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) (Kashmir), Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al Almi (HuMA) (Pakistan), Brigade 313 (Pakistan), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) (Pakistan), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) (Pakistan), Jundullah (Pakistan), Ansar ut-Tawhid wa al Jihad (Kashmir), Ansar al Islam Bangladesh (Bangladesh), Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) (Bangladesh), Indian Mujahideen (IM) (India), Lanshkar-e-Taiba (LeT) (Pakistan), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (Pakistan), and Turkistan Islamic Party (Pakistan).