- India has to play its cards with extreme care and dexterity
- Make economy strong to wield respect of other countries
- Jaishankar, Doval cannot do wonders
India now is surrounded by enemies or friends of enemies after the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan. Taliban, who occupied Afghanistan in a matter of days after the American army started their departure, are known enemies of India. Taliban has already started talking about championing the cause of Kashmir.
Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said his group supports China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative that would link China with Africa, Asia and Europe through an enormous network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks. “China is our most important partner and represents a fundamental and extraordinary opportunity for us because it is ready to invest and rebuild our country,” Mujahid told an Italian newspaper on Thursday as quoted by Geo News. He spoke of rich copper mines in Afghanistan and China is prepared to invest, modernize and exploit the mines. Moreover, Afghanistan has to reach outside world through China.
Can India protect Kashmir, Ladakh?
China has been making some positive statements about Afghanistan developments. It hoped that the Taliban would respect women and honour the human rights and provide good governance. It also hoped that the Taliban government would combat all kinds of terrorist groups and live up to the aspirations of its people. China said it would respect Afghanistan’s sovereignty and would not interfere in its internal affairs. “We need an open, inclusive political culture to achieve economic development.
The Taliban are also friends with Russia, a junior partner of Chine. Zahibullah Mujahid said Russia is an important partner in the region and will maintain good relations with Moscow. Russia, once the heart of a vast, mighty Soviet Union, is no more a communist country. It is ruled by dictator Putin. Russia is broke and it depends on Chinese investments. Thus China, which is very well off economically, is in a position to make friends with not only Pakistan, Russia and Afghanistan but also almost all the Indian neighbours. So to say, India is encircled by enemies or friends of enemies. It is going to be very tough for India to defend Kashmir and Ladakh.
What are the options before India?
What are the options before India? One thing that cannot be considered an option is the course suggested by Dr. Subramanian Swamy. He said recently in an interview that the only country that could help Afghanistan is India. He was suggesting military intervention. That would be most stupid thing to do. One should never tread a path which defeated super powers. It would be suicidal. The only option before India is to become economically stronger. It has also try to improve its relations with neighbours including China and Pakistan. The government should stop talking about Pakistan negatively in order to mobilise the Hindu votes in India. It should not try to exploit the sentiments against Pakistan and arouse negative sentiments about Taliban ruled Afghanistan. The first and foremost thing for India to do is that it would not work against any of the neighbours and would strive to have good relations. In China is respected because of the size of its economy. If we have to be respected we should improve the size of our economy. That is the only way. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar or National Security Advisor Ajit Doval cannot do miracles without the backing of strong economy and united India.
