Meet on Afghan: Divergent views

India has little presence in Afghanistan under the Taliban

India’s efforts to remain engaged in Afghanistan made some progress earlier this week when it hosted the Third Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan. The national security advisors (NSAs) and security chiefs of Russia, Iran and five Central Asian countries participated in the Delhi event. Differences on issues were apparent. On the question of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan, for instance, India, Iran, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were vocal in articulating their concerns on the matter. Russia was more circumspect; it only referred to “challenges and threats emanating from the Afghan territory,” while the Uzbek and Turkmen NSAs made no mention of the word ‘terrorism’ in their opening statements. It is likely that countries which chose to underplay the terrorism threat are reluctant to ruffle the Taliban’s feathers. The differences notwithstanding, it is heartening that the participating states at the Delhi Dialogue were able to hammer out a consensus document.

The Declaration stresses the need for an inclusive government in Kabul and calls for a national reconciliation process. In addition to emphasizing that Afghan soil should not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing any terrorist acts, it calls for collective efforts to fight radicalisation, extremism, separatism and drug trafficking in the region. According to reports, the dialogue is exploring the possibility of setting up a “regional security architecture” to deal with the challenges arising out of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Subsequent meetings will throw more light on the concrete outcomes of the meeting.

Although they were invited, Pakistan and China chose to stay away from the Delhi meeting, signalling the pettiness of their diplomacy. Rather than seeking to draw on the strengths of all countries to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan and the region, Pakistan is more preoccupied with keeping out Indian expertise. Unlike the Delhi dialogue, Pakistan was focused on getting the Troika Plus to recognise the Taliban.

Although India has engaged with a few Taliban officials so far, it has little presence in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Although it has been willing to send truckloads of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Pakistan has prevented this by refusing India overland transit. However, India too is to blame for its non-presence in Afghanistan today. It erred by shutting down its embassy and consulates in Afghanistan in the days after the Taliban captured power. And in the months since, has rejected visa applications from Afghans wanting to come to India. What is the logic behind this decision? India’s strength in Afghanistan has always been its connect with the people. By denying them visas it is snapping that connection. This needs a course correction.