Indian intelligence agencies have assessed that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan (TTH) is a propaganda-driven outfit manufactured by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to create a deniable homegrown terror network in India, while simultaneously implicating both India and Afghanistan in the nurturing of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The assessment, shared by multiple officials, reveals a multi-layered strategy designed to serve Islamabad's regional interests at a time of shifting geopolitical alignments.

The Strategic Design Behind TTH

According to officials, the TTH is not an organically formed extremist group — it is a carefully engineered construct. 'There is a larger agenda behind the creation of the group,' an official said, explaining that while the TTH is aimed at driving propaganda inside India, it is simultaneously being positioned as an offshoot of the TTP to serve Pakistan's broader narrative goals.

The TTP has inflicted serious damage on Pakistani security forces, and Islamabad has repeatedly — and falsely, according to Indian officials — claimed that the Afghan Taliban is responsible for sheltering and nurturing the TTP. Pakistan has used this claim as a pretext for military action against Afghanistan. By creating the TTH and linking it to the TTP, the ISI now seeks to extend that blame to India as well.

India-Afghanistan Reset Complicates Pakistan's Position

The timing of the TTH's emergence is significant. Since the Afghan Taliban's return to power, Islamabad has found itself increasingly sidelined — the Taliban has refused to act as a Pakistani proxy and has explicitly stated it will not permit Pakistan to interfere in Afghan affairs. This represents a major strategic setback for Islamabad, which had long treated Afghanistan as a sphere of influence.

Simultaneously, India has reset its diplomatic ties with the Afghan Taliban, and bilateral engagement between the two countries is, according to officials, currently on a stable footing. This convergence — a cooling Taliban-Pakistan relationship and a warming India-Afghanistan one — has unsettled Islamabad. The ISI's response, officials say, has been to fabricate a narrative that both India and Afghanistan are jointly backing the TTP to destabilise Pakistan.

The Shahzad Bhatti Connection

The TTH is reportedly headed by Shahzad Bhatti, identified by officials as the individual in charge of the ISI's propaganda wing for Indian affairs. His role came to light following the arrest of a man named Sohail, who had a prior criminal history. During questioning, Sohail told Delhi Police that Bhatti had tasked him with painting 'TTH' on walls across multiple locations in Delhi and Faridabad. He was also instructed to paint a small 'S' beneath the 'TTH' graffiti — a signature indicating the work was Shahzad's, according to police findings.

Bhatti's ambitions through the TTH extend well beyond graffiti and propaganda. Officials say he has been systematically building a network in Delhi and its surrounding areas, with a specific operational objective: targeting police personnel. 'This is a module in the making with this specific agenda,' an official said.

ISI's Three-Pronged Agenda Through TTH

Officials have outlined three distinct objectives the ISI seeks to achieve through the TTH. First, to establish a false narrative linking the TTP and TTH to both India and Afghanistan, thereby deflecting international scrutiny of Pakistan's own role in harbouring militant groups. Second, to spread disinformation within India suggesting that New Delhi is actively backing outfits like the TTP to target Pakistani security forces.

Third — and perhaps most consequentially — the ISI aims to use the TTH as the foundation for a durable homegrown terror infrastructure in India, enabling future attacks while maintaining plausible deniability. This, officials say, has been a longstanding strategic goal of Pakistani intelligence.

What Comes Next

Indian intelligence and law enforcement agencies are closely monitoring TTH-linked activities, particularly in the Delhi-NCR region. The arrest of Sohail has provided investigators with a thread into the network, but officials caution that Bhatti's recruitment and radicalisation efforts are ongoing. The broader geopolitical context — continued India-Afghanistan engagement and Pakistan's deteriorating internal security situation — suggests that ISI pressure through proxy narratives and covert modules is likely to intensify in the near term.