Talking about stability in south-Asia without mentioning Afghanistan is like staging Shakespear’s Hamlet without the prince of Denmark.
Today Afghanistan has become a bone of contention in every international debate.
On one side, in different forums, there is a demand to end the assault on the innocent habitants and let the people find their discourse- themselves. And on the other side, people vow to take the war to another level before they start their retreat, next year.
History stands behind the Afghans. They have never undergone any foreign dominance and have always fought for their liberty. This needs to be kept in mind while forming a policy to tackle Talibans.
The war was started by the bush administration to avenge 9/11. But the perpetrators of 9/11 are still at large, may be hatching similar coup, and the US is running after the Kabulliwallas.
Almost nine years have passed to that fateful day, yet there’s no sign of Victory in the ‘war on terror’.
By the end of this year, the number of US forces present on the Afghan soil will be around 100,000.
In such a scenario, what should be the role of the South-Asian countries and India, vis-à-vis the stability in the region?
India has always, treated the Afghans as untouchables. Probably that’s the reason why it was not invited to the ‘London conference’ which the British PM held a few months back with 500$ trust fund and also in the Turkey conference.
It was a sheer foreign-policy failure for India.
Now, as is evident that the west has a change of heart towards the Talibans- they have divided them in Good and Bad, Talibans. There are chances of Good Talibans sharing the future government with Hamid Karzai. Thus, it’s imperative for the Indian government to re-engage itself with the whole of Afghans. Because, once the Talibans come to the power- which is not far, it may happen as soon as the US exits- it will find India more reliable than Pakistan’s duplicity.
Also, the geography of this nation is such that, it holds a special place in south-Asia. It shares a close proximity to all the power players in the region. Hence, commands a special position in the priority of each nation.
The earlier Indian approach was just investment in this deprived nation whose major occupation till now is opium trade. This approach is slightly flawed. India needs to engage the regional players and encourage them to become stakeholders in peace. This will enable them to seriously think of Afghanistan’s peace after the US leaves. Mere, investments will not yield results.
India must aggressively pursue its national interest.
