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Op-Ed AUGUST 20, 2021 | The Indian Eye 14

is india the big “loser” in afghanistan?

Views and opinions from the top commentators in Indian media

ruly, it is incomprehensible why India
shut its embassy in Kabul. A great op-
Tportunity was at hand to plough a new
Afghan policy independent of American
tutelage. The only plausible explanation for
such unseemly hurry to retrench could be
that the government takes a zero-sum view
that if Pakistan has a sense of triumphalism,
then India must be the “loser”. But we were
never really such one-dimensional people
previously. We had a profound understand-
ing of the Afghan nation’s ethos, traditions
and culture and their enduring affection to-
ward India.
Then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao
didn’t have an iota of doubt that India
shouldn’t lose time to launch a conversation
with the Mujahideen groups (“Peshawar
Seven”) notwithstanding their close associ-
ation with Pakistan. Suffice to say, the In-
dian narrative is deeply flawed. We are riv-
eted on archaic notions of “strategic depth”
and regard the Taliban as a plaything of the afghan citizens gather outside the Canadian Embassy seeking immigration visas following the re-
Pakistani establishment.” cent takeover of afghanistan by the taliban, in new Delhi on Friday. (ani)
m K bhadrakumar,
The Indian Express Afghanistan and has long been an active jihadis all over the world?

“As India closed its mission in Kabul and player in its northern neighbor’s affairs. This has a deep bearing on India’s na-
evacuated personnel, a strong sense that Now China is showing an interest in playing tional security since in the coming months
we have embarked on another cycle of re- a bigger role in Afghanistan. Foreign minis- there will be a concerted bid by sections of
petitive events is inescapable. That we have ter Wang Yi’s meeting with senior Taliban the Pakistani State apparatus to transform
faced a setback is obvious. Yet it is also use- leaders last month shows Beijing doesn’t conflicts in the Kashmir Valley into an Isla-
ful to remind ourselves that the origin of this want to be a silent player anymore. mist cause célèbre, on a par with Palestine.
setback was not in an Indo-Afghan cycle but This potential geopolitical realignment On its part, China is certain to use its new-
rather lay collectively in an internal Afghan could “change things upside down”, said found status as a Taliban-friendly world
dynamic, a Pakistan-Afghanistan dynamic Gautam Mukhopadhaya, India’s former power to either encourage pressing the ac-
and finally a larger international dynamic. ambassador to Afghanistan and Syria. celerator on Kashmir or demanding a price
In brief there is little that India could Afghanistan was a loose alliance be- for applying the brakes.
have done to prevent the chain of events tween the democratic government in Kabul, For India, the Taliban victory in Afghan-
that saw the rapid dismantling of a two- the West and other democracies like India. istan has brought new foreign policy and
decade-old architecture so favorable to us. But the world is likely to see Pakistan, Rus- security challenges. At present, New Del-
But just as external events had catapulted sia, Iran and China coming together to play hi’s old Northern Alliance friends are in
us back into Afghanistan post 9/11, it is a the next chapter of the Great Game. disarray but they are certain to regroup and
similar external impulse that has now led to Vikas pandey, create enclaves of resistance to the Taliban.
our exit. BBC News The choices are clear but difficult: unfriend-
tca raghavan, “(Imran) Khan’s bid to project the Tali- ly indifference or surreptitious encourage-
The Times of India ban as a personification of Afghan nation- ment of forces that will not be reconciled to

“The Taliban’s rout is likely to cause a alism is understandable, and this is also a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Swapan dasgupta,
significant shift in the geopolitics of South how China would like it to be. What will be The Telegraph
Asia, and it could be particularly testing for tested in the coming months is the extent to
India, given the country’s historically tense which groups in close ideological proximity
relations and border disputes with Pakistan to the Taliban factions visualize the future Every week, we look at what the
and China - both are expected to play a cru- direction of Islamic reorientation. More top commentators in the Indian media
cial role in Afghanistan’s future. important, will the Taliban 2.0 overcome are talking about and bring to you a slice
of their opinions and comments
Pakistan shares a porous border with their earlier urge to be a global nursery for

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