New Delhi: Things are moving pretty fast on the Afghan front and the US forces are all set for complete withdrawal.
The Americans have completed more than half of their withdrawal already.
Meanwhile, are the two explosions at Jammu Air Force station on Sunday linked to the ‘Af-Pak’ angle? Were those Pakistani drone attacks? “We cannot allow Pakistan get away with this….,” Brig (retd) Anil Gupta told in a television channel.
Amidst these comes a report from the Pentagon stating that 81 of Afghanistan’s 419 district centers are controlled by the Taliban.
Several questions have been raised about the manner the Afghan security forces will deal with the new challenge and perform after the US troops depart.
It has been reported that Afghans who have applied for visas now fear that the Taliban could target them and also their families as a ‘penalty’ for association with the Americans and helping foreign forces in the last two decades since 9/11.
Even US President Joe Biden has sought to endorse the apprehension and he later said, “Those who helped us are not going to be left behind”.
Biden met his Afghanistan counterpart Ashraf Ghani and assured that the Americans’ concern for this part of the globe is not over.
“Our troops may be leaving but our support for Afghanistan is not ending in terms of support and maintenance of helping maintain their military as well as economic and political support,” Biden told Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation at the White House.
India has already flagged off the concern. At the UNSC Debate on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on June 22, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar said that “…..the intra-Afghan talks have not resulted in a
reduction of violence in Afghanistan. On the contrary, violence has only increased”.
He pointed out that there have been “targeted attacks on religious and ethnic minorities, girl students, Afghan security forces, Ulemas, women occupying positions of responsibility, journalists, civil rights activists, and youth”.
Thus he said, “It is therefore crucial that the international community and, in particular, this Council presses for a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire to ensure immediate reduction in violence”.
Cross-border terrorism largely from Pakistan is an issue of great concern flagged off by India on numerous occasions.
The US move to withdraw forces can ensure an enhanced role for India, which is already involved as a ‘development partner’.
Two low-intensity explosions were reported early Sunday morning (June 27) in the technical area of Jammu Air Force Station.
“One caused minor damage to the roof of a building while the other exploded in an open area. There was no damage to any equipment. The investigation is in progress along with civil agencies,” said, the official Twitter handle of the Indian Air Force.
Pakistani involvement in the attack by drone technology is being probed. All these only highlight yet again a point that the ‘problem’ is not merely Afghanistan-generated, the real problem is the ‘Af-Pak’ challenge.
Lt Gen Gurmit Singh said the drone attack is a new phase in warfare. He also said that the timing of the attacks coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a successful meeting with Kashmiri politicians on June 24.
Notably, Pakistan presumably did not figure in the deliberations despite a hype created on that angle by former CM Mehbooba Mufti.
The attacks, according to Col Rohit Dev, have major ramifications, and the horns must take the bull.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a visit to Ladakh, has already been briefed.
Indian experts have said time and again that the heart of the problem lies in Pakistan. Thankfully, this aspect of the issue has got more ‘recognition’ in the western world lately.
The government of India has announced the building of the Shahtoot Dam in Kabul for providing safe drinking water. This is the second one after the Salma dam was inaugurated in 2016.
Since 2001 and the fall of the Taliban, India has deeply invested in Afghanistan. India has undertaken about 400 development programs in Afghanistan in its 34 provinces.
It should be kept in mind that during the Taliban regime in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, India’s relationship had nosedived to a level of zero.
India has remained a popular country among the masses in Afghanistan.
