India’s external affairs minister participated in the inaugural of the Doha inter-Afghan negotiations in September 2020. This does not suggest that India has now warmed to the Taliban; rather it highlights the fact that India has no reservations in interacting with the Taliban if the Afghan government has none. India has made its policy clear and is willing to engage with any party committed to peace and stability in Afghanistan. The Doha invitation of India also suggests that India has vital interests in Afghanistan. India should also involve Iran in the Afghan peace process as Iran’s foreign minister, Jawad Zarif, could not participate because of the presence of the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. If there is a flare-up between Iran and the US, the Afghan peace process may receive a blow.
Doha Peace Talks 2020
The Taliban and Afghan government negotiators launched historic peace talks on September 12, 2020 with a view to ending decades of war through a political settlement that would be unprecedented in the country’s recent history. However, there is a yawning gulf between the Taliban’s vision of an austerely Islamic state and the government’s commitment to the constitutional democracy and women’s rights.
There are certain questions being raised in India’s policy circles about the gains India has made through its reconstruction activities in Afghanistan—goodwill and traction with Afghans from all parts of the country. Earlier, India had an exiguous presence in the minds of Afghans before Taliban rule in the country. Afghans felt that India had turned away from them. However, they now know that India wants Afghanistan to stand independently on its feet and make its own decisions. Afghans also know that India is working for a sovereign, united, and peaceful Afghanistan. There are certain commonalities between Indian and Afghan objectives. If Afghanistan succeeds, India will also celebrate the success.
India’s Support to Afghanistan
As for India’s support, India is not only helping this neighbour financially, be it the construction the Afghan parliament, a dam on the Hari Rud River, transmission lines, and a power station to bring electricity to Kabul, Small Development Projects for education and health, but India has also contributed to building institutions, to developing human resources, to training Afghan public officials and to providing the country with a new generation of educated and skilled manpower.
On the other hand, Pakistan is of the view that India is sabotaging the Doha negotiations as India would not like Afghanistan and Pakistan to have good relations, though India is quite content with friendship between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Irrespective of relations between Islamabad and Kabul, the Afghan people and government are free to decide the kind of relationships they should have with other countries, including India.
As for the peace deal, concluded between the United States (US) and the Taliban, India has nothing to worry about as long as the peace deal safeguards India’s interests. All parties should feel assured that India would support them if they acted independently, be it Taliban.
India has supported efforts to bring inclusive peace to Afghanistan by advising leaders of different ethnicities to work in cohesion with others for peace and nation-building. India stands with the social and political reintegration of those who give up their physical and ideological association with terrorist groups and networks and adopts pluralism and democracy. India opposes the political accommodation of individuals, groups or Islamist entities associated with the al-Qaeda, the Daesh, and their associates. Any such association will only subvert the nascent Afghan democracy, undermine human rights, and destroy emerging Afghan institutions. If Afghanistan goes in the hands of terrorist networks, it will be a catastrophe not only for India, but also for the region and the world. Then the situation in Afghanistan could also result in the unravelling of the state system in Pakistan, again a matter of deep concern.
‘Reduced violence’ is being promoted as an interim measure to restore peace in Afghanistan; however, that will not be enough. For that, immediate ceasefire is necessary—a ceasefire, followed by the cessation of sanctuary, sustenance, and support to the Haqqani Network, the military arm of the Taliban, most closely linked to the Pakistan army, and other groups of that ilk.
Courtesy: Hindustan Times