India has been sending arms and ammunition to the embattled Afghan government, a report in a Pakistan media outlet alleged, adding New Delhi recently shipped two cargo planes full of artillery shells. 

India on Sunday admitted it evacuated officials and diplomats from its consulate in Kandahar as a “precautionary” measure amid a deteriorating security situation in the country. A day after, a report in Pakistan’s The Express Tribune newspaper claimed that arms and ammunition were also shipped to the Afghan government using the same planes. 

Citing sources, the report claimed, “New Delhi is also delivering ammunition to the beleaguered Kabul administration and has recently sent two cargo planes to Kabul and Kandahar, full of artillery shells. The same planes were used to evacuate Indian officials from the two cities.” 

Officially, India plays a very limited military role in Afghanistan--training Afghan officials and donating a few MI-17 helicopters. After 2001, New Delhi stayed away from aiding militarily to the Afghan government --one of the reasons was not to provoke Pakistan which remains high skeptical of India’s influence in Afghanistan. 

Earlier, during the late 90s, India had supported the anti-Taliban front, known as the Northern Alliance under the leadership of famed Afghan guerilla commander Ahmad Shah Masood. 

However, things are a bit different today. India has reportedly initiated direct contacts with a section of top Afghan Taliban leaders. The engagement is still in its initial stage and remains “exploratory” in nature to gauge the group’s intention to accommodate India’s key concerns in Afghanistan.(SAM)