Round The World
New Delhi,
12 November 2021
India’s Afghan Script
PUSHING FOR A ROLE
By Dr D.K. Giri
(Prof. International Politics, JIMMC)
On 10 November, New
Delhi sought to write a new script for the ongoing drama in Afghanistan. In the
Bollywood parlance, the attempt underscored New Delhi’s desire to secure a role
in the ongoing powerplay in the war-torn country. It is a moot point if the Directors
of the play will allow a role to New Delhi. It will perhaps partly depend on
how well the script was drafted. In all the plays enacted so far, New Delhi has
had marginal roles. At any rate, the New Delhi exercise in the name of Third
Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan chaired by Indian NSA provided the
backdrop for New Delhi’s future role in Afghanistan.
As expected, there
are various perspectives on the consultation held in New Delhi on Afghanistan.
Sampling a couple, Bharat Karnad, security and political
commentator, said to Al Jazeera, “the meeting in Delhi was a way of alerting
everybody to India’s stake and India’s interests in Afghanistan”. He underlined
the point that, this was a way of New Delhi saying “we too
have a stake and a role in Afghanistan and making that aspect clear to the
world,”
Another
perspective articulated by TCA Raghavan, India’s former Ambassador to Afghanistan,
pointed towards New Delhi securing the space on Afghanistan among the Central Asian
countries, Iran and Russia. Countering
partly Karnad’s viewpoint, Raghavan said, “I don’t see it as, specifically, an
Indian projection. I think this is an effort by Afghanistan’s neighbours to see
whether they can increase the common ground which exists.”He optimistically
added, “On the whole, the more regional consultations and efforts to build
stronger regional consensus on Afghanistan, the better it is.”
The seven-country
country consultation was attended by the
National Security Advisers/ Secretaries of the National Security Councils of
the Republic of India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of
Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, all participating in
the meeting.
Unsurprisingly,
the other two major stakeholders, India’s arch rivals, Pakistan and China did
not participate although they were invited. There has not been much reaction
from Beijing yet, but Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Moeed
Yusuf last week called India a ‘spoiler’ and not a ‘peacemaker’ in Afghanistan.
The South Block reacted, “Pakistan’s refusal to attend the meeting was
“unfortunate, but not surprising” and “reflects its mindset of viewing
Afghanistan as its protectorate”.
There was
no participation by any representative of Taliban government in Kabul. They
were not invited. Inviting them would have amounted to recognising the Taliban
government, which New Delhi has not done so far. In fact, the relations between
India and Afghanistan are in a suspended animation, since New Delhi evacuated
its diplomatic staff from Kabul just before the US withdrew its forces. New
Delhi did, however, held its first official meeting with a Taliban
representative in Qatar on 31August.
About the
meeting in New Delhi, the Taliban government spokesman said in a rather
satirical tone, “The Islamic Emirate is not worried about such meetings but
hopes to facilitate good cooperation.”
He assured that “the security and economic development of Afghanistan
is in favour of its neighbouring countries”. We in India hope that is the
case although it is hard to believe, given Taliban’s actions in the country and
outside with countries like Pakistan which has been the mother of terrorism at our borders.
On the
significance of the meeting, there are few points of speciality. This is the third meeting of the process; the
first two editions were hosted by Iran in 2018 and 2019. But this is the first meeting of the security heads of
the participating countries that India has hosted since the Taliban took over
in August after dislodging the government of President Ashraf Ghani. This
is also the first-of-its-kind dialogue that focused on security-related issues
and is distinct from foreign ministry led talks. Furthermore, this is also the
highest number of countries taking part in this format.
On the
deliberations in the meeting in terms of who said what; weighty, strategic
statements were made by the participants. Indian NSA, Ajit Doval, who chaired
the meeting as the host said, “These (deliberations)
have important implications not only for the people of Afghanistan but also for
its neighbours and the region. This is a time for close consultation amongst us
and greater cooperation, interaction and coordination among the regional
countries”.
Sounding somewhat a discordant note, the Russian
representative Nikolai P. Patrushev said multiple dialogue mechanisms “should
not complicate” the unfolding situation in the Taliban controlled Afghanistan.
While praising the role of various regional dialogue mechanisms that have been
framed so far, in order to deal with the political situation in Afghanistan,
he appeared to favour, the Moscow
consultation, which had‘broad participation’ by all sides. He was obviously
alluding to participation by China, Pakistan and Taliban government.
The Iranian delegate, Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani,
Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, emphasised the need to
establish an inclusive government in Afghanistan. He said, “The solution comes
only through the formation of an inclusive government with the participation of
all ethnic groups.” He also referred to the need to find a ‘force’ within the
Afghan society that can create an inclusive government. Interesting thought
indeed.
Karim Massimov, Chairman of the National Security
Committee of Kazakhstan, was concerned with the appearance of the Central Asian
fighters (in Afghanistan). He urged the delegates to increase humanitarian
assistance for the Afghan people. Kyrgyz Republic’s Marat Imankulov raised the
spectre of terrorism spreading from the territory of Afghanistan. In order to
prevent this, he said, “We need to extend help to the Afghan people.”
At the end of the meeting, a joint statement called the
‘Delhi Declaration’ was issued. Thanks to the management of the meeting, the
declaration was based on a consensus. The Declaration contained 12 clauses
pointing to various wishes and objectives like “collective cooperation” against
terrorism and drug trafficking in the region, “concern over the deteriorating
socio-economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan”, the “need to provide
urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan” and so on.
Given the divisions existing in the country on ethnic
lines, exacerbated by the advent of Taliban into power, the Declaration emphasised
that the assistance should be provided in an “unimpeded, direct and assured
manner” and that the help should be distributed across the country “non-discriminatorily
across all sections of the Afghan society”.
Significantly,
4 out of 12 clauses referred to terrorism, radicalisation, extremism,
separatism and drug trafficking. It urged an inclusive government, underlined
the critical role of the United Nations, protection of fundamental rights of
women, children and minorities, the urgent need for humanitarian assistance and
the inclusive manner of its distribution, assistance to fight COVID-19, and
reiteration of the spirit of dialogue on Afghanistan and related issues.
By most
parameters, the meeting was a success. New Delhi got in the groove on
Afghanistan, but surely, it is a bit late in the day. However, since we have
great stakes in Afghanistan, let us compliment the GOI with the dictum, “better
late than never”. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News & Feature Alliance)
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