{"id":118303,"date":"2021-07-13T16:26:36","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T10:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=118303"},"modified":"2021-07-13T16:27:41","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T10:57:41","slug":"regional-powers-and-the-afghanistan-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/regional-powers-and-the-afghanistan-question\/","title":{"rendered":"Regional powers and the Afghanistan question"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/opinion\/columns\/us-troops-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-pakistan-taliban-7401581\/\">Indian Express<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Relevance<\/strong>: This article explains the implications of US withdrawal from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis: <\/strong>Regional powers now have the burden of managing the military vacuum created by the US retreat in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Introduction:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>The <strong>two developments <\/strong>have moved <strong>Afghanistan<\/strong> into the court of regional powers. These are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The speedy withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan has resulted in the swift advance of the Taliban across the nation.<\/li>\n<li>And the Taliban leadership has claimed that it is in control of 85 percent of Afghan territory.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><strong>Why regional powers should get involved for more sustainable peace?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>Firstly, the idea of a regional solution to Afghanistan has always had much <strong>political appeal. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Secondly, <strong>Geography, membership, and capabilities<\/strong> make the SCO an important forum to address the post-American challenges in Afghanistan.<\/li>\n<li>Thirdly, Afghanistan is at the center stage of international politics and <strong>right at the top of the SCO agenda.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The SCO was launched <strong>to promote inner Asia stability<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>A few months after the SCO was set up, the world saw the terror attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, by Al-Qaeda.<\/li>\n<li>The US marched in quickly <strong>to oust the Taliban from power<\/strong> and launched the Great War on Terror.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Fourth, <strong>China and Russia were deeply apprehensive about the implications of extended American military presence<\/strong> in Afghanistan.\n<ul>\n<li>However, Beijing and Moscow <strong>did not oppose US intervention<\/strong> in Afghanistan in 2001.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Fifth, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan also reinforces the strongly held conviction in Beijing that the <strong>US is in terminal decline<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>Now, China is offering an <strong>alternative to the Western model of domestic<\/strong> and <strong>international governance.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lastly, <\/strong>there is quiet satisfaction in Moscow, Beijing, Tehran, and Rawalpindi at seeing American withdrawal from Afghanistan.\n<ul>\n<li>However, it is tinged by worries <strong>about the long-term implications<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Now, they have to cope with the consequences of the US withdrawal and the resurgence of the Taliban.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><strong>Challenges lying ahead for regional powers and Afghanistan:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Iran<\/strong>: It can\u2019t ignore the <strong>Sunni extremism of the Taliban<\/strong> and its oppressive record in dealing with the Shia, and Persian-speaking minorities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pakistan<\/strong>: <strong>Geography has given Pakistan the capability to destabilize any government<\/strong> in Afghanistan.\n<ul>\n<li>There is a danger of the conflict spilling over to the east of the Durand Line, and hostile groups like the <strong>Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) gaining sanctuaries in Afghanistan.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Many in Pakistan would like to turn Afghanistan into a protectorate, but Afghans deeply value their independence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>China<\/strong>: potential Taliban support to <strong>the Xinjiang separatist groups<\/strong> is a major concern.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Afghanistan<\/strong>: If the Taliban is unwilling to accommodate the interests of all Afghans, it simply sets the stage for the next <strong>round of the civil war in Afghanistan<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>All Afghan sovereigns, including the Taliban, will look for partners to balance Pakistan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>India<\/strong>: There is a danger that Afghanistan under the Taliban could also begin to nurture anti-India terror groups.\n<ul>\n<li>Since there is a lack of direct access, India needs to have effective regional partners to shape India\u2019s Afghan policy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>India should focus on intensifying its engagement with various Afghan groups, including the Taliban, and <strong>find effective regional partners<\/strong> to secure its interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Indian Express Relevance: This article explains the implications of US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Synopsis: Regional powers now have the burden of managing the military vacuum created by the US retreat in Afghanistan. Introduction: The two developments have moved Afghanistan into the court of regional powers. These are: The speedy withdrawal of US troops from&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/regional-powers-and-the-afghanistan-question\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Regional powers and the Afghanistan question<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10316,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":1700788714,"cached_date":1704737039},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118303\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}