Pakistan's fears over closer India-Taliban ties are influencing its approach to peace talks with Kabul, analysts say.

Islamabad, Pakistan – On October 28 after negotiators from Pakistan and Afghanistan hit a wall in talks to extend their fragile ceasefire after deadly border clashes, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif blamed a third country that wasn’t even present during the dialogue: India.

In a television interview, Asif claimed that India had “penetrated” the Afghan Taliban leadership. That, he insisted, was the reason for the escalation in tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He complimented the Taliban leadership at the talks in Istanbul. “But the people in Kabul pulling the strings and staging the puppet show are being controlled by Delhi,” Asif charged. “India wants to engage in a low-intensity war with Pakistan. To achieve this, they are using Kabul.”

The defence minister presented no evidence to back his claim that India was propping up the Taliban to challenge Pakistan. But his comments represent a growing attempt by Pakistan to portray its tensions with Afghanistan as the outcome of a growing friendship between the Taliban and India.

As Pakistani and Afghan troops were clashing along the border earlier in the month, Asif said the Taliban was “sitting in India’s lap”. Islamabad has accused the Taliban of allowing anti-Pakistan armed groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to operate from Afghan soil and has claimed – again without public evidence – that India is behind the TTP.

The Taliban leadership has rejected the accusation that India has had any role in the crisis between Pakistan and Afghanistan and has denied any responsibility in the TTP’s repeated attacks on Pakistani soil.

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