UPSC 2017: RSTV - India ' s World: India - Afghanistan Ties: The Way Ahead

Context:

The focus of this discussion is on Donald Trump’s Afghanistan and South Asia policy and its consequences vis-a-via India. Recently, Mr. Trump has sought an enhanced role for India in bringing peace to the war ravaged country of Afghanistan, while he ruled out a hasty withdrawal of US troops. He also issued one of the sternest warnings yet by an American leader to Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups and Afghanistan feels vindicated by these statements on Pakistan’s role in fomenting terrorism in the region.

Pakistan has been singled out by Mr. Trump and this is a significant development as it marks a radical departure from previous American policy in two respects. First, it is clearly focussed on degrading the Taliban militarily. Even though the US is clear about working out a political solution with some sections of the Taliban, the recent policy prioritises degrading the Taliban movement militarily to help the fledgling Afghan forces deal with the Taliban challenge. Second, Trump has been very clear and unequivocal about India’s role. In the past, western countries have paid heed to Pakistani sensitivities about Indian involvement in Afghanistan. After all, it is for the Afghan government and the Indian government to decide bilaterally the nature and extent of India’s involvement and it is here that Trump has made a refreshing departure.

Is the US trying to exclude China?

Another departure from the norm was not mentioning about China while trying to find a solution to the Afghan problem because in the past US has believed that China could influence the events in Pakistan and Afghanistan. China has held two primary interests in Afghanistan. One, to defend Pakistan’s role in backing the Taliban and second, to exploit the resources in Afghanistan. This strategy of China might be degraded by Trump’s policy as it is focussed on tackling terrorism in the Af-Pak region. But India should treat this development with slight caution as the US State department has generally been pro-Pakistan on this issue. There might be few hiccups in the implementation of Trump’s policy but nevertheless it clearly highlights India’s role in stabilizing Afghanistan.

What does Afghanistan expect from US?

Afghanistan would like to see an honest implementation of Trump’s comprehensive strategy in tackling extremism. Afghanistan would expect the US to sincerely tackle terrorism by deploying its military and intelligence assets and without segregating terrorists into the good and bad category. Along with this, Afghanistan would expect the US to play a lead role in bringing about socio-economic reforms in order to counter fundamentalism. US can bring in necessary investments to give a boost to education, healthcare, infrastructure and economic opportunities in the war ravaged country. India on the other hand has gone out of its way to support socio-economic and critical infrastructure projects in Afghanistan. Now it needs to enhance this support to Afghans economy and should also provide greater military assistance in the form of equipment and training to help combat terrorism.

Do US expectations exert pressure on India?

India has always maintained an independent foreign policy which is governed by the principle of maintaining ‘Strategic Autonomy’ and so has Afghanistan. India has worked closely with Afghanistan through the decades and its assistance has further increased post the defeat of the Taliban in November 2001. While India and US share mutual interests and concerns with regard to Afghanistan and try to complement each other’s role, India is not limited or burdened by US expectations as the equation between India and Afghanistan is for both the respective governments to decide bilaterally. India has always responded to the needs of the Afghan people and it should further enhance its cooperation based on their requests. This bonhomie between the two is what irks Pakistan as it is worried about losing its influence in Afghanistan and thus accuses India of using Afghanistan to destabilize them.

Role of Pakistan vis-a-vis India-Afghanistan ties

Pakistan does play a role, because strategically as well as geographically it is vital to ensuring stability in Afghanistan. Pakistan is also under pressure on the question of providing safe havens to terror groups and the talk of cutting back on US aid to Pakistan might have an impact on India and Afghanistan as well. Ideally this should accelerate co-operation between India and Afghanistan. Clearly the initial reservations of US, about allowing India to expand its scope of activities in Afghanistan for the fear of offending Pakistani sensitivities is being removed and this is evident by Trump’s recent statements. Trump’s new approach also marks a setback for China -Pak domination in the region.

What does Afghanistan seek from India?

The strategic partnership between the two countries provides for co-operation in a wide range of sectors including defence & security. India has already played a big role in reconstruction efforts in the war ravaged country. Militarily, India has trained hundreds of army and police personnel, provided helicopters and shared intelligence. But Afghanistan welcomes a greater defence role for India including deploying Indian troops on the ground and transferring high grade defence equipment to tackle insurgency. At the same time, Afghanistan understands India’s constraints with regard to offending Pakistan and it appreciates India’s role in reconstruction efforts. While the US has assisted greatly in the war efforts, India has played a greater role in reconstruction efforts. This balance needs to continue with greater Indian involvement in all domains.

India’s assistance in the security sector invites suspicion in Pakistan and it tries to interrupt this arrangement between India and Afghanistan by leveraging its geographical advantage of being sandwiched between both countries. Pakistan has limited land based access between the two countries and this impedes the growth of economic ties. Pakistan has even restricted the movement of humanitarian aid from India to Afghanistan.

India and Afghanistan are well aware that Pakistan sponsors terror groups in the region to destabilise both its neighbours and the friendly ties between them. In fact both countries are working together to supress these terror outfits backed by Pakistan and the recent indications by Trump suggests a positive change in US policy as well. This was evident when recently the US designated Syed Salahuddin as a global terrorist. China has implicitly aided Pakistan’s policy of supporting terror groups and now this equation will come under pressure. Pakistan will definitely start feeling the squeeze from India and Afghanistan but pressure from US is most crucial and this will take effect as soon as some sort of sanctions are brought in place by the Trump administration.

Iran’s role in Afghanistan

Iran is a very important neighbour for Afghanistan and the India-Iran connectivity project which includes development of Chabahar port and its further linkage to Afghanistan and beyond, will certainly bring huge economic opportunities to the Afghan economy and the implementation of the project should be expedited. Iran also plays an important role in ensuring the security of the region. But closer ties between India-Iran might not please the US. The US which is concerned about Iran’s nuclear weapons program should take a broader look at India -Iran role in stabilizing Afghanistan.

Conclusion

The Afghan conflict cannot be resolved without the involvement of regional powers like India and Iran and their co-operation with global powers like US and EU. In this pursuit of a regional-global solution, Afghanistan should be well connected to multiple transit corridors to reap the economic benefits which can be channelized for reconstruction efforts. So, now is the time to see how the Americans will put the new policy into action.

The US obviously is focusing more on military solutions to degrade the Taliban and they have to take a series of reconstruction steps with partners like India to resolve the Afghan conflict. The new approach of Trump’s administration on South Asia focuses on tackling terrorism and provides an enhanced role for India. This marks a new chapter in India-Afghanistan relationship.