ISI, Taliban `still together`: Krishna

New York, Sep 23 (PTI) Pakistan's powerful Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI) is still working in "tandem" with the
Taliban in Afghanistan to further complicate efforts to find a
political solution to the conflict there, External Affairs
Minister of India S M Krishna has said.

Pakistan's disruptive role in the Taliban insurgency
continues, Krishna told the 'Wall Street Journal' on the
sidelines of the UN General Assembly here.

He said the military situation in Afghanistan was
complicated by the ongoing aid for the Afghan Taliban provided
by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. "They
are a tandem," Krishna said. "They are still together."

Pakistan's military has been fighting the Taliban in the
tribal belt and other parts of the country's northwest, but
Krishna said the government there has been unable to break
ties between the spy agency and the militants in Afghanistan.

On former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's admission
that the US military aid was diverted to boost defences
against India, Krishna said India felt "vindicated".

"We have always been cautioning our friends, the United
States, that please, please for heaven's sake make sure that
the aid you are giving to Pakistan is not directed and
misappropriated to be used against India, a friend of yours,"
the minister said.

Turning to Afghanistan, he said India, one of the biggest
investors there, believed there could be no military solution
to the conflict and that NATO combat operations should look
for a political settlement. (More) PTI