“The war in Afghanistan is crucial from the point of view of India’s national security. If the Americans withdraw and jihadis emerge with a sense of triumphalism, India will face increasing onslaught of terrorism”. Comment
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Route 1 fear is well-founded → Afghanistan on NW approaches + 1990s Kabul as terror nursery → but must the prediction follow?
Route 2 Afghanistan = India’s security buffer → US exit + triumphant Taliban did happen → so test the determinism, not the concern
why Afghanistan matters (buffer, radical ideology, drugs, ISI proxies / Chadha: stable Afghanistan curbs terror) → trigger arrived (Aug 2021 pullout; Narayanan: US left it worse; stronger, self-financing Taliban 2.0) → the straight line bends: Taliban–ISI–jihadi front fractures → Kabul–Islamabad open war over TTP & Durand Line (“Indian proxy” jibe) → threat changes actor: ISKP (Routray), anti-Taliban + anti-India, Voice of Khurasan incites Indian youth → India’s reply: no recognition, no retreat → aid + UNSC 2593 + Muttaqi’s Oct 2025 Delhi visit post-Pahalgam
danger is still real: ISI proxies (LeT/JeM) persist, Taliban 2.0 stronger, ISKP active → Happymon Jacob: soft power alone, no Plan B → Taliban–Pakistan friction offers only limited relief
Route 1 security stake genuine; threat real but reshaped in source & form → India now shapes the outcome, not merely suffers it
Route 2 concern valid, prediction not deterministic → risk managed by calibrated engagement — neither recognition nor retreat
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
