India must also focus on the Pashtuns who hold the key to stability in Afghanistan....
Written by The Indian Express
3 min read
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As it affirms the commitment to stay the course in Afghanistan following the attack on unarmed Indian citizens in Kabul at the end of February,Delhi must adapt to the rapidly evolving circumstances in the north-western subcontinent. Neither bravado on standing up to terror nor the pique towards Pakistan,which is trying to hustle India out of Afghanistan,should colour Indias policy. Evidence from the three major attacks on Indian targets during the last 18 months including two on the Indian embassy in Kabul points unambiguously to the involvement of the Pakistani intelligence agency,the ISI. There is speculation in Delhi about more attacks against India,especially its diplomats in the Kabul embassy and the consulates in four other cities.
That the Indian presence in Afghanistan,which has positively contributed to the development of post-Taliban Afghanistan,has now become vulnerable to violence promoted by the Pakistan army is no longer in doubt. The physical targeting of Indians is only one element of Pakistans campaign in Afghanistan. In the last few years,Islamabad has successfully propagated the myth that the large Indian presence in Afghanistan threatens Pakistan and is at the source of its inability to cooperate fully with the international community in the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Anyone familiar with the recent history of Afghanistan knows that Indias presence in Afghanistan was limited in the 90s when Pakistan had a free hand resulting in the creation of the Taliban.
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Meanwhile,there is growing pressure on the international community and the government in Kabul led by President Hamid Karzai to engage a resurgent Taliban to find a political settlement. Not surprisingly,the Pakistan army,which has nurtured the Taliban,has offered itself as the principal interlocutor. Sensing an endgame in Afghanistan and betting on its new leverage,the Pakistan army wants to decisively influence new political arrangements being considered for Kabul and establish its much vaunted dominance over Afghanistan. In responding to this challenge,India should avoid the premise that it is in competition with Pakistan. There is no way Delhi can neutralise Pakistans advantage in Afghanistan an open frontier that runs 2,500 km long. Having no geographic access of its own to Afghanistan,India must necessarily rely on an asymmetric strategy. Such an approach would focus not only on expanding Indias security footprint in Afghanistan,but also on the Pashtuns,who hold the key to stability on both sides of the Durand Line. Having neglected them all these years,Delhi must establish political contact with different Pashtun formations including a range of groups that form the Taliban.
