Pak sees 'ally' Taliban as long-term proxy to limit India's influence in Afghanistan: NYT - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

While the United States has been pushing Pakistan to do more against terror organisations such as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda operating from terror safe havens based inside the country, the Pakistani military is hesitant to carry out a defining operation fearing retaliation, but more importantly, because it wants to use the banned organisations against Indian interests in Afghanistan, an editorial has said. According to an editorial in The New York Times, while the Pakistan Army, under immense pressure from the international community, has initiated action against the extremists in Swat and South Waziristan, it does not seem to be committed to root out militancy from the country. "In part, they are hesitating because of legitimate fears of retaliation. But there are also many Pakistani officials, and not just in the intelligence services, that continue to see the Taliban as an ally and long-term proxy to limit India's influence in Afghanistan," the editorial said. It also highlighted that President Obama's revamped and comprehensive AFPAK strategy and the objective of dismantling the Taliban, Al-Qaeda would not succeed until the Pakistani leadership gets into the act seriously, and stops diverting attention from the real issue. "There is no chance of defeating the Taliban and Al Qaeda unless Pakistan's leaders stop temporizing (and in some cases collaborating) and get fully into the fight," the editorial said. The editorial said that the Pakistani military leadership continued to shelter the Taliban even after receiving billions of dollars in aid during President George Bush's regime, and added that Obama must demand Islamabad to do more while finding ways to bolster the country's weak civilian leadership and pacify the massive anti-American feeling which persists in the troubled nation.