Author Topic: Arresting India's Drift on Afghanistan  (Read 504 times)

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Offline TomSea

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Arresting India's Drift on Afghanistan
« on: February 09, 2019, 02:34:55 am »
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Arresting India's Drift on Afghanistan
Harsh V. Pant, The Diplomat

India has been relegated to the status of a reactive power in Afghanistan.

As U.S. efforts to depart Afghanistan gather momentum, Indian foreign policy is coming to terms with a new reality, one which will be shaped by others and to which New Delhi has no choice but to respond robustly. The discussions between U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives have reached a critical juncture with the two sides signalling that at least for now they are ready to end the fighting, thereby bringing the curtains down on a 17-year-old war. The Trump administration is serious about its intent to reach a modus vivendi with the Taliban leadership and has also been able to put some pressure on Pakistan, which has acted as a spoiler in the past.

A framework agreement that talks of a phased withdrawal of foreign troops in exchange for a Taliban commitment that it would sever its ties to global terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda seems to have put enough on the table to satisfy both sides at least for the time being, thereby allowing the process to move forward more than such attempts have allowed in the past.

Clearly problems lie ahead with this arrangement. Enforcing promises made by the Taliban to see American forces off from the battlefield is just one of the issues that will haunt the process. The United States, at least publicly, is still insisting that the Taliban agree to a ceasefire as well as undertake negotiations directly with the Afghan government in Kabul before the American forces depart. The Taliban, of course, have been consistent in their stand that they don’t recognize the Ghani government....

Read more at: https://thediplomat.com/2019/02/arresting-indias-drift-on-afghanistan/

A slap-in-the-face editorial in the Guardian, this is very harsh should it interest anyone to read. I do think the author is wrong.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/08/us-afghanistan-civil-war-fundamentalist   After rereading it, perhaps a few pointers all the same to consider.  But I mean, it's probably the headline that is offensive, that we ruined it. No way. What planet is he on?

Back to the main article, I have heard it projected that if we leave there, India could enter into a sort of proxy war with Pakistan there.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2019, 02:38:26 am by TomSea »