Haqqani network targeted Indians in Afghanistan: Krishna

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said today India had known that the dreaded Haqqani network, widely considered a proxy of Pakistan's spy agency ISI, was targeting Indian interests in Afghanistan much before classified US military documents were leaked by an online whistleblower.

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said on Thursday India had known that the dreaded Haqqani network, widely considered a proxy of Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was targeting Indian interests in Afghanistan much before classified US military documents were leaked by an online whistleblower.

HT Image

"The government is aware of media reports about classified information, supposedly from US government sources, placed in public domain, on support of terrorism by ISI," Krishna said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

"It is known that the Haqqani network has been targeting Indian interests in Afghanistan, including Indian personnel involved in building infrastructure," Krishna said.

His reply came when asked whether the government was aware of the revelations about the ISI's economic and other assistance groups in Afghanistan for elimination of Indians.

In stunning disclosures, WikiLeaks has made public over 92,000 classified US military documents that detail the web of ISI's network in Afghanistan, including the role of the Haqqani network in targeting the Indian embassy and Indian workers in Afghanistan.

Krishna underlined that India has conveyed its concerns over terrorism emanating from the Pakistani territory to Pakistan many a time, including at the recent meeting of foreign ministers of the two countries in Islamabad last month.