Pakistan has accused Afghanistan's Taliban of serving as a "proxy" for India, as hostilities escalate between Islamabad and Kabul.

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed on X that the Taliban has turned Afghanistan into a "colony of India" and is "exporting terrorism." He presented no evidence.

The Taliban has rejected accusations of Indian influence. However, India has condemned Pakistan's recent military actions in Afghanistan, reinforcing Islamabad's perception that its nuclear rival and the Taliban are growing closer.

India closed its embassy in Afghanistan after the Taliban returned to power in 2021 but sent a team of "technical experts" in 2022 and officially reopened the embassy last October. Over the past two years, Indian and Taliban officials have held meetings in Dubai, Kabul, and New Delhi.

India has also offered humanitarian support to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, including shipping food and medicine after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in November 2023.

Source: www.aljazeera.com