|Muhammad Akhter
The withdrawal of US and coalition forces from Afghanistan under an agreement reached between the United States and the Taliban in the Afghan peace process was expected to be completed next month, but the United States set an official deadline of September 11, 2021.
During the 20-year US presence in Afghanistan, many countries and groups, including India, used Afghan soil for their nefarious agenda. Now that the US is gone, all these elements will not be able to stay in Afghanistan because the faster the Taliban occupy different parts of the country, the sooner they will reach Kabul, and the Taliban’s occupation of the capital will mean that someone using Afghan soil for its nefarious purposes will be targeted by the Taliban.
Therefore, India is fleeing Afghanistan, but even after leaving Afghanistan, it is constantly engaged in conspiracies and playing a double game with the Taliban and the Afghan administration.
Read more: How India has limited security options in Afghanistan
India’s strategy after the US withdrawal
India is currently negotiating with the Taliban on one hand and providing heavy weapons to the Afghan administration to use against them on the other. According to media reports, India provided heavy weapons and ammunition to the Afghan security forces through special military planes being sent to Kabul and Kandahar in the name of withdrawing its diplomatic staff from Afghanistan.
On Saturday and Sunday, two Indian Air Force planes arrived at Kandahar and Kabul airports with weapons, respectively. Media reports also cite sources who saw weapons being dropped from planes coming to pick up Indian personnel at airports in Kabul and Kandahar. Some pictures have also come to light in which weapons, etc. can be seen coming down from Indian planes.
India unloaded two planes in Kabul and Kandahar of weapons each 40 tons.
India invested about 8 crore dollars in 100 uncompleted projects with 13 billion dollars total investment
All just to strengthen its roots in Afghanistan to destabilise the neighbours.#IndiaSpoilerOfPeace pic.twitter.com/ACfv5eqPr1— Ahmad Hassan (@AhmadHassan48) July 15, 2021
Thus, by supplying arms and ammunition to the Afghan security forces, India is adding fuel to the fire, which will further aggravate the situation. Many countries, including India, and some elements in Afghanistan want the situation to worsen so that the United States can use it as a basis to withdraw the announcement of the complete withdrawal of its troops, and thus allow all these elements to remain on Afghan soil.
Sitting in Afghanistan over the past two decades, India has hatched a number of conspiracies to destabilize Pakistan and the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has created elements in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas that have created terror in Pakistan. As the horrific series of riots began, Pakistani intelligence agencies thwarted many of RAW’s plans and uncovered elements involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan at the behest of India.
Read more: What role is India playing inside Afghanistan
India’s dirty game in Afghanistan
In this regard, a lot of evidence was presented to the international community with the aim of showing the world the ugly face of India, but it is unfortunate that despite the existence of clear evidence against India, the international community has done nothing beyond a mere verbal deposit.
Due to the indifference of major international bodies, including the United Nations, the situation today is such that India wants to ensure its presence in Afghanistan to the detriment of Pakistan. Peace and stability may soon be threatened.
Read more: How India lost Afghanistan to Pakistan?
India’s current situation in Afghanistan is that its entire diplomatic staff and all RAW agents have fled Kandahar and the consulate in Kandahar has been closed. India has confirmed the evacuation of its staff from Kandahar, but has denied closing the consulate.
Afghan affairs experts say that given the rapidly deteriorating situation for India in Afghanistan, it is likely that India will soon have to close its embassy in Kabul. The closure of the embassy would mean that India has completely withdrawn from Afghanistan.
The world powers must take notice of India’s double game
On the other hand, it is a bitter truth that India will not accept this in any way, so it is playing a double game and trying to use both the Taliban and the Afghan government against each other so that it can somehow pursue its interests in Afghanistan. Both the Taliban and the Afghan government are aware that India is playing a double game with them and they also know why India wants to stay in Afghanistan.
The world powers that are directly involved in the Afghan peace process are also not unaware of India’s nefarious intentions. What is needed now is for all major powers to work together to stop India’s conspiracy from succeeding, as the Indian double game could not only jeopardize the Afghan peace process, but also the region as a whole.
Read more: Punishing Pakistan on Afghanistan: US Befuddled Policy
Hence, it is finalized that all major international organizations, including the United Nations, must step forward and play a positive role, as the deterioration of the Afghan peace process will not only harm Afghanistan or Pakistan but also cause fires that will burn in the region. And if not today, then tomorrow the flames will reach Washington, London, Paris, and other important western centers.
The writer is a freelance columnist. He writes articles for Baaghi TV, Daily Kashmir Post, daily Islamabad post, Diplomatic News Agency, on IIOJK Affairs, and other international issues. He is pursuing a postgraduate degree in Criminology from UoS, Jamshoro. He tweets at @MAkhter. The views expressed in the article are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.