Since the beginning of the insurrection in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s involvement in it has been common knowledge. It has repeatedly denied the charge. But that has not carried conviction in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It has allowed thousands of rebels to cross the frontier at will and it has been espousing their cause internationally. Pakistani diplomats have not made a secret of their sympathy for the rebels and argued vigorously with individuals in this country that like them, we, too, have a stake in rolling back Soviet power from Afghanistan. It is naturally difficult to secure and produce evidence that Pakistan has been financing, training and arming the guerillas. But it is not unreasonable to infer that it is. For where else can they get the necessary training and arms? Indeed, even if it is assumed that they are receiving money from other unnamed friendly sources, it cannot reach them regularly without Pakistan’s connivance.
It has also been reasonably clear that General Zia-ul-Haq could not have undertaken this adventure, involving as it does the risk of infuriating the Soviet Union which is committed to support the communist regime in Kabul, without the support of some other power or powers. But which power? The United States has been furiously denying involvement in the Afghan civil war and so far at least there has been no evidence to disprove its protestations. The Afghan authorities have made charges against Iran. But Ayatollah Khomeini is locked in a conflict with the United States and he is at odds with neighbouring Iraq. Above all, his domestic situation cannot permit him to do much for the Afghan rebels, however great his sympathy for them. This leaves China as one major source of support for Pakistan and the rebels. Now, some kind of evidence is available to show that Beijing may, indeed, be backing the guerillas. According to a Canadian journal, US drug enforcement agents discovered some Chinese near the border. Their inquiries revealed that the latter were not Hong Kong opium dealers, as they first suspected, but Chinese officers and instructors who were there to train and equip the guerillas. While we cannot possibly vouch for the accuracy of the report, it appears credible to us. Russia and China are engaged in a fierce struggle for influence to the east of India in south-east Asia. They may be engaged in a similar, though less open, conflict to the west of us in Afghanistan. New Delhi cannot be indifferent to the outcome in either case.
The Times of India, 18 December 1979