The
inevitable has happened.
In spite of
repeated warnings by Western & other Intelligence sources about imminent
danger of Suicide Bombers of Islamic State of Khorasan, they ultimately infiltrated
the frenzied crowds gathered outside Kabul Airport and blew themselves up.
The attack
has killed till now more than 90 people and
injured many more hundreds. There were 13 Us soldiers amongst those killed.
International
Media has been reporting for at least a week that Taliban having surrounded
Kabul Airport, having put Check Point on the roads leading to the Airport,
allowing only foreigners having valid travel documents.
If this is a
fact then how could ISIS-K Suicide Bombers infiltrate this security ring? Does
that mean Taliban was complicit with ISIS—K? Did they want to send a message to
the USA or this could happen because of sheer lack of attentiveness on the part
of Taliban in the ongoing chaos in Kabul? BBC Correspondent in Kabul had
reported two days back that the Taliban fighters manning the Check Points on
the road leading to the Airport were not thoroughly checking vehicles or their
passengers and sometimes just waiving them through. So it is difficult to
ascertain at this stage that how this attack could take place.
Of course we
need to look beyond the details of the attack and try to understand the
linkages between not only ISIS-K, its ties with various factions in Taliban and
the role of Pakistan.
ISIS-K was
founded by a Pakistani militant Hafiz Seed Khan in 2014 with a small band of
militants from Pakistan. He pledged his allegiance to the ISIS founder
Abu-Bakr-al-Baghdadi. Khan moved to
Afghanistan in 2015 and was able to attract some Taliban fighters also. His
area of activity in Afghanistan was mainly in its eastern province Nangahar.
Khan was killed in US air raid in 2016 and ISIS-K main hideout in Nangahar
province was bombed by USA in 2017 in which scores of terrorists were killed.
Still United Nations Group on Terrorism estimates that about 1700 to 2200
terrorists of ISIS-K are active and now they are spread across many provinces
of Afghanistan.
After Taliban
entered Kabul, the city is being policed and manned by Haqqani faction of
Taliban, which is controlled by Pakistan. It is intriguing that in spite of
Haqqani factions such a widespread presence in Kabul and its fighters manning
perimeter of Kabul Airport, how could ISIS-K Suicide Bombers penetrate the security
ring? Does this mean that Pakistan was also indirectly involved in this
attack? Is it a way of ISI waning Taliban to fall in line and not to stray from
the framework it wants to establish in Afghanistan? Is it a way of warning the
Americans that Pakistan has power to create mayhem for USA? On the face of it
all these questions may look improbable. But in the intricate web of terrorist
world how many moves-countermoves takes place, how momentary alliances are
struck for short term gains, how today`s partners become tomorrow`s foes has
been described in detail in a recently published book `Spy Stories: Inside The
Secret World of RAW & ISI` by two Us Journalist Adrian Levy & Cathy
Scott-Clark. Therefore it may not be farfetched to assume the invisible hand of
Pakistan in Kabul Airport attack.
Then the
question arises is that how should India deal with this fast changing situation
in Afghanistan, which is our extended neighborhood. As the Foreign Minister
told the meeting of opposition leaders, should we `wait & watch` before
doing anything? What are options open for us? Do we have any leverage with any
of the factions of Taliban?
To answer these
and related questions, we need to consider following points:
The first and
foremost point that we need to consider is `what is foreign policy meant for?`
The obvious answer Is that `to protect, preserve & enhance India’s interests`.
Then the next point is that `what is the
role of diplomacy in a Foreign Policy`? Again the obvious answer is that `to pursue
the possibilities to protect, preserve & enhance India’s interest in its immediate
neighborhood, extended neighborhood and all across the world`. How do we pursue
these possibilities? By establishing relationship based on mutual interests, avoiding
conflicts & tensions by sustained creative dialogue and trying to find out
spaces for mutual cooperation and develop alliances to ward of threats’. All
these things need to be done within a framework of our vision about the world
and our position in this world.
Did we practice
all these basic tenets of diplomacy while dealing with the crisis in
Afghanistan? The answer is big NO. It was crystal clear since 2018 that USA’s
`War on Terror` was just an empty slogan and it is taking steps to extricate
itself from Afghanistan. For this USA had no compunction to seek the help of Pakistan,
when that country has been harboring terrorists. In fact Mulla Baradar with
whom US Special Representative Zalmy Khalidzed started negotiating in Qatar’s
capital Dohaa since 2018, was captured in a joint operation of CIA & Pak
ISI in 2010. USA asked Pakistan to release him to facilitate the negotiations.
Pakistan still has not allowed Habitullah Akhundzada, who is a Supreme Religious
Leader of Taliban after Mulla Omar’s death, to return to Kabul. In such a scenario we kept on putting all our
eggs in Ashraf Ghani’s basket when USA was trying to strike a deal to abandon
Asraf Ghani and hand over power to Taliban. Sher Mohamad Abbas Stanikzai is a prominent
Taliban leader in charge of its political wing and head of Taliban’s office in
Doha. Stanikzai was trained in India in late 80s at Indian Military Academy
(IMA) at Deharadun. When his name
started cropping up in US—Taliban negotiations, Stanikzai’s batch mates in IMA
gave interviews to Indian Media stating various experiences of their association
with the batch mate. This same Stanikzai had appealed to India not to close its
diplomatic mission and offered full protection, but India did not heed the
plea. The point to stress is that India had not established contacts with any
faction of Taliban. Since 2001 India has made huge contribution to whatever
little economic progress that has happened in Afghanistan. Hundreds of Afghan
students are studying in Indian educational institutions. Many Afghan soldiers
have been and are being trained at Indian Military institutions. There is a
tremendous goodwill amongst Afghan people for India. There were inter-faith marriages
also. These afghan people felt that India would accommodate them to avoid being
repressed by Taliban. This has not happened. India has not allowed any Muslim Afghan
nationals to come to India. It has only brought back Hindus and Shikh`s. In
fact Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri, a Minister in Modi Cabinet has argued that Citizen
Amendment Act (CAA) was enacted to deal with such a situation. The glaring
example is that of an Afghan woman Member of Parliament Rangina Kargar, who
landed in Delhi from Istanbul and was deported back in spite of having Diplomatic
Passport. When this issue was raised by
Leaders of Opposition in a meeting held by Foreign Minister S. Jayashankar, he
said that `it happened inadvertently & we have asked her to apply for e—visa’.
He did not acknowledge that she has a Diplomatic Passport & India has
evacuated two Sikh Women MP’s of Afghanistan to Delhi just a day before Ms.
Kargar landed in Delhi.
Here another
important point needs to be considered. In last 7 years whenever a meeting of
opposition leaders in convened very rarely Prime Minister Modi attends it and
takes part in its deliberation. Whether it be Carona Pamdemic or Afghanistan
such meetings are addressed by concerned Ministers. Surprisingly, Opposition Leaders
also do not insist on presence of PM. Modi also does not attend Parliament. The
Pegasus issue rocked the recent Monsoon Session of Parliament, but Modi did not
come to the House. In fact in last seven
years Modi has attended Parliament only for 3.5 hours compared to Atal Bihari
Vajpayee’s 77 hours. This is happening because
Modi gives a scant importance to opposition and all democratic institutions. He
treats himself above all this and thinks that he has a direct connect with the
people, he does not need such meetings or presence in Parliament. Therefore
`Man Ki Baat`.
This attitude
of PM Modi has also subverted institutionalized Foreign Policy decision making
process. A paradigm shift has taken place since 2014 and our Foreign Policy has
been `SECURATIZED`. This means all foreign policy issues are being looked from
the prism of `National Security` and instead of providing adequate &
necessary inputs, the Security Establishment—particularly National Security
Advisor—has become a lynchpin of decision making process in Foreign Policy.
This has unavoidably
been reflected in our isolation and disconnect in the ongoing Afghan crisis. It
is essential to understand that Pakistan is integral to Afghan crisis. We have
failed to `pursue the possibilities of creating spaces for cooperation &
understanding` with Pakistan in spite of opportunities coming our way in recent
months. When Pakistan Media published a report about a speech given by Army
Chief General Bajwa in Corps Commanders Meet, saying that `if relations with
India improve then there won’t be need of nuclear weapons`. It was a
`Possibility` which needed to be `pursued` diligently. This did not happen.
Instead Modi Government declared that 14 August—which is Pakistan’s
Independence Day-- would now be observed as a Partition Horror Remembrance Day’,
for all purposes indicating that henceforth Pakistan would be our eternal
enemy..
Ultimately
any country’s Foreign Policy is a reflection of its social, cultural &
political ethos. Since Independence India has been is multicultural, diverse
society with Parliamentary Democracy aspiring to become economically equitable
and prosperous country. This has been India’s ethos and that got reflected in
our Foreign Policy. For last seven decades we have been known for our `Soft
Power`. We have been recognized world over for our functioning democracy,
albeit with many flaws. Since 1990s we have embarked on a new economic path in
a 21st Century Post Modernist world where Technology is going to be
a `Buzz Word`, as `Capital` was in 20th Century. In this 21st
Century world, India’s economic strides must deepen & escalate its
distinctive democratic process based on multicultural diverse society.
Then only the
Comity of Nations would look up to India as a `World Power’.
Unfortunately
this distinctive multicultural & diverse base of Indian Democracy is being
eroded step by step and `Unity in Diversity` is being replaced by `Cultural
& Social Uniformity`
Therefore our
isolation in current Afghan Crisis epitomizes Securitization of our Foreign
Policy and Weaponization of our Cultural
& Social Ethos for sheer political purposes.
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