NThe same is true in India.Later Taliban In Afghanistan, the New Delhi government has withdrawn embassy personnel from Kabul. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of New Delhi said on Tuesday: “In view of the current situation, it has been decided to bring our ambassador to Kabul and his Indian staff to India immediately.”
According to Indian media reports, a military plane carrying 140 embassy staff, security forces and some media representatives took off from Kabul on Tuesday morning. The plane has been on the tarmac since the day before. Due to the chaotic situation and the temporary closure of civil air traffic at the airport, India first had to interrupt the return operation on Monday.
India is surprised by the incident
Indian consulates in other cities in Afghanistan have long been closed, and their employees have flown away. Earlier on Monday, another military transport vehicle had transported 40 Indian citizens back. India is clearly planning more flights to bring the last remaining Indians and some Afghan refugees from Kabul there. India wants to give priority to the hundreds of Afghan Hindus and Sikhs facing persecution under the Taliban. India has also pledged to provide assistance to Afghans participating in the Indian project.
The New Delhi government has cooperated well with the government that has fled. India has invested a total of US$3 billion in development projects such as schools, roads and dams. The future of these investments is now at risk. Like many other countries, developments in Afghanistan shocked India.
The New Delhi government is worried that Pakistan and China may gain influence in Afghanistan after the return of the Taliban. She also predicts that terrorist organizations that have carried out attacks in the past, especially in the Muslim-majority Kashmir region, will receive attention. Kashmir is split between Pakistan and India and has repeatedly become the source of armed conflicts. New Delhi accused Islamabad of assisting and sheltering terrorists.
India is also worried about how China will establish relations with the Taliban. Beijing is one of the first governments to announce on Monday that they are “preparing to establish friendly relations with the Taliban.”The Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi Met with the Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Gani Baradhar. Almost at the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Brinken was received in New Delhi.
According to India, relations between India and China have been strained since the Chinese army crossed the Himalayan border between the two countries. This led to several serious conflicts, in which Indian and Chinese soldiers were also killed.
India did not seek negotiations with the Taliban until very late
In New Delhi, many people believe that India must now endure the consequences of the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan, which is ironic. This move should also enable the U.S. armed forces and their allies in the region to focus more on strategic competition with China in the Indo-Pacific region. In fact, India plays a central role in these efforts.
India has little confidence in the Taliban’s commitment to no longer tolerate any terrorist organization on its territory. Instead, it expects that Afghanistan will now increasingly provide a safe haven for terrorists again. Radical groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are said to have also been involved in the Taliban offensive in recent weeks. They have carried out serious attacks on Indian targets in the past.
Indian newspapers reported on Tuesday that after the Taliban attack, fighters from these groups and the terrorist militia of the Islamic State had entered Kabul. India may find it difficult to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government. New Delhi and the Taliban also took longer to talk than the United States, China and Russia.
Nevertheless, India can play an important role in the international community’s response to the situation in Afghanistan. The country belongs to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, China and Pakistan are also members of the organization, and Afghanistan has observer status. India is also a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and serves as the chairman of the United Nations Taliban Sanctions Committee.
