Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Friday that the country’s forces are giving a “befitting” and decisive response to what he described as India-backed Taliban aggression.

In a statement posted on X, Asif said that after the withdrawal of NATO forces, there had been expectations of peace in Afghanistan and a focus on regional stability.

However, he alleged that the Taliban had turned Afghanistan into a colony of India and that militants from around the world had gathered there.

He said the Afghan people had been deprived of basic human rights and that women were not being granted rights provided under Islam.

Asif said Pakistan had pursued diplomatic efforts to normalise the regional situation and improve relations, but claimed the Taliban had become a proxy for India.

He added that Pakistani forces were currently delivering a decisive response and said that while Pakistan had hosted five million Afghan refugees for decades, its patience had now run out, describing the situation as open war.