The American strategy of negotiating with the Taliban will backfire shortly and will result in an immediate increase in global terrorism.
Afghanistan, a landlocked land, which has created and destroyed empires, is waiting for its better half, which is India. Afghanistan has historically served as a frontline of defence for India before it was temporarily severed from India by a British drawn Durand Line. The Durand Line cut Afghanistan’s umbilical cord with India. The line was not accepted either by Afghanistan or by India. Till date, it remains a source of problem for another Islamic state, Pakistan. Historically, right from the times of Mahabharata, Afghanistan was deeply connected to its roots with India. Herat and Kabul, the original Hindu heartlands, bore the brunt of Islamic invasion for almost 900 years before succumbing to barbaric Islamic rule. Afghanistan connects Chakshu river valley with Indus Valley through the Hindukush mountain range.
After the third Anglo Afghan war in 1919, Afghanistan became independent, but became a battleground for the Anglo-Russian conflict. After the second coup in 1978, the Soviets got involved there to protect their socialistic protectorate known as Afghanistan. The Mujahideen, sponsored by the CIA through Pakistan, threw the Soviets along with their protectorate Afghan government into the dustbin of history. Then began the period of lawlessness that gave birth to the fundamentalist Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan until 1996. Then under the mandate of the United Nations, NATO forces removed the Taliban, but eventually ceased their operations in 2014. Since 2015, the United States and other NATO allies have around 17,000 soldiers still in Afghanistan, providing resolute support to the Afghan National Security Forces. While the Taliban, funded by drug trade and also by neighbouring wolf states such as Pakistan, have regained control of most of the country.
The reason I have summarised the history of Afghanistan for the last 800 years is to tell all future political leaderships around the world that in Afghanistan military solutions won’t work. Afghanistan is a transit gateway, which needs to be utilised to connect Afghanistan to its original motherland, India. The problem is the wolf state of Pakistan, which has continuously created trouble in Afghanistan so that it remains a strategic depth to fund their Islamic terrorism in India. It’s not in Pakistan’s interests to see a stable Afghan state.
American policymakers need to rethink their Taliban strategy, because that strategy is going to send Afghanistan back by many centuries. Also, it will throw Afghans to the mercy of the wolf state on the eastern border of their country. Afghanistan needs a different type of help, which only India and some Buddhist countries can offer. The American strategy of negotiating with the Taliban will backfire shortly and will result in an immediate increase in global Islamic terrorism. In fact, the United States will not be able to pull out their 8,000 troops from Afghanistan. Drug produced in Afghanistan will fuel the global Islamic jihad in a much worse manner than ever imagined. This time there won’t be any Russia or NATO to stem the proliferation.
Following are the problems in the American-Taliban deal via Pakistan:
* Increase in flow of drug money to international Islamic terror syndicates.
* Increase in violence against Afghan citizens.
* Destruction of democratic institutions in Afghanistan.
* Increased funding to the Pakistani armed forces, who will flourish on drug trade.
* A heavy chance of nuclear proliferation through Pakistan to Islamic terrorist groups.
* The well funded terror infrastructure will rapidly reach US and European nations.
Instead, the US needs to focus on rebuilding Afghanistan with India’s help. All Afghans have a soft corner for, and positive image of India because of the extensive rebuilding efforts carried out by India in Afghanistan. The US administration may not understand the value of India’s soft approach in Afghanistan but Afghans understand it very well. My suggestions to the US State Department are as follows:
* Stop dealing with the Taliban immediately.
* Re-engage India in humanitarian efforts of rebuilding Afghanistan through hospitals, roads and schools.
* Seal the Durand Line, which serves as the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
* Assist all Afghans in realising a secure Afghanistan.
* Control drug production through policies and buyback mechanisms.
* Protect Afghanistan from Iranian influence.
Similarly, India also needs to take a proactive approach in Afghanistan, considering Afghanistan is and always has been the first line of defence for Akhand Bharat.
* Station troops in Afghanistan to assist the Afghan National Security Forces.
* Build scientific collaboration further with Afghanistan’s universities.
* Establish pharmaceutical companies in Afghanistan.
* Ensure that the Islamic state of Pakistan doesn’t interfere in Afghanistan.
* Reintroduce religious tourism to all Hindu and Buddhism related sites spread across Afghanistan.
It’s time for India, Afghanistan and the US to become a positive contributor to peace in Afghanistan. Pakistan is itself the problem, so it will never become a solution, because of reasons of conflict of interest. It’s time to solve this problem once and for all through a conscientiously devised strategy. Any hastiness by the Americans in exiting Afghanistan is going to hurt world peace in multi-dimensional ways.