[yt_dropcap type=”square” font=”” size=”14″ color=”#000″ background=”#fff” ] F [/yt_dropcap] or the given of many foreign invasions throughout the recorded history, Afghanistan has been known as the ‘Graveyards of the Empires. The external attacks started from the Alexander the Great (336–323 BC) to NATO under the US/UN stewardship (2001-14). However, indomitable Afghanistan had been able to maintain its independent identity despite these horrendous invasions.
Sometimes, it is argued that the current crisis of Afghanistan has been due to its ethnic composition and partly geopolitical interests of the external powers. For the given of geostrategic, geopolitical dynamics, geographical contiguity, viable option for connectivity, historical and geo-cultural ties, have made Afghanistan as a lynchpin for the Indian foreign policy
Afghanistan’s Ailment
Afghanistan is a country of multi-culture and nationalities. Out of these ethnic groups, the Pashtun has remained one of the most dominant ones. Most of the rulers, bureaucrats, various officials have been coming from the Pashtun ethnic group. The second place goes to the Tajik (25%), and the rest of the communities such as Hindu, Sikh, and Jewish communities are considerably in very smaller percentages. Geopolitics has become the curse for Afghanistan, and the old Great Game was once again was revived when Soviet intervened and established a pro-communist government (1979) in Afghanistan. Due to the Cold War geopolitics, Afghanistan had become a battlefield between Russia and the US. To extricate the Russians from Afghanistan, many countries such as the US, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan had supported the Afghan Mujahidin. In the post 9/11, Afghanistan had been put under the control of the NATO forces (2001-2014) under the stewardship of the US, which further worsened the Afghan crisis.
Terrorism in Afghanistan: Curse of Geopolitics
Afghanistan has been highly infested with terrorism. The trace of Taliban could be traced to the Cold War geopolitics in general and Soviet–Afghan War (1979-89) in particular. For Afghanistan terrorism, Singh (2016), has argued that, in addition to geopolitics, the others like religious fanaticism, internal fighting, poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment factors have been responsible for terrorism in Afghanistan. Apart from Taliban, the Hezb-e-Islami was another group, founded and led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (1977), in Afghanistan. Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), has been a small Pakistani group, based in Afghanistan, used to oppose the Indian control of Kashmir. Lashkar-i-Janghvi, a small terrorist group, is oftenly been accused of conducting attacks on Afghanistan’s Hazara community (Katzman 2013). The Haqqani Network, led by Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani, is one more terror group operating in Afghanistan.
Peacemaking Efforts: A Distant Dream
Since the Civil War in Afghanistan in 1979, the several efforts have been made for achieving peace and stability. The Geneva Accords (1988), was the first step in this direction which made a substantial contribution in the peace-making in Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai held a National Consultative Peace Jirga (NCPJ) for the ending the ongoing Taliban insurgency to promote peace and stability. However, Taliban had been called it as a phony reconciliation process, only meeting the interests of external powers. In the post-2014, the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), comprised of four countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US have been consistently holding a talk to find the solution to the Afghanistan crisis.
The first HoA was launched in November 2011 with the Istanbul Declaration focusing on Regional Security and Cooperation for a Secure and Stable Afghanistan among the member countries. The second HoA’s ministerial conference was called on June 14, 2012, in Kabul. The participating countries had reiterated and reaffirmed with Afghanistan to curb terrorism, production, trade and trafficking of the drug to establish peace. The third HoA has been taken place on April 26, 2013, in Almaty (Republic of Kazakhstan), mainly focusing on terrorism, separatism, and fundamentalism as significant challenges for Afghanistan. The promotion of peace and cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours was the primary focus of the 4th Beijing Conference (October 2014). The 5th meeting took place in Islamabad (Pakistan), jointly hosted by Pakistan and Afghanistan, in December 2015 and adopted a forward-looking Islamabad Declaration to promote peace, security, economic development and connectivity in the region. The latest 6th meeting took place in New Delhi (April 2016), began with the objective of bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan.
India’s Interests in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has been called as the ‘Heart of Asia.’ Despite not sharing a direct border with India, but for the given geostrategic and geopolitical environment, Afghanistan’s political stability and security, directly and indirectly, affect the former’s myriad interests. It is a bridge link between India and energy-rich Central Asia and Eurasia. It shares long borders with Iran small border with China across the narrow Wakhan corridor. It is a permanent member of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), observer of the SCO and the member of Asian Development Bank‘s CAREC (Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation) programme. India could get connectivity to energy-rich Central Asia through the Afghanistan. For the development of Afghanistan, India has not been only the largest fifth donor to Afghanistan; rather it has invested about US$ 2 billion in various sectors. India has been helping in the development of infrastructure such as parliament building, roads, power grids, schools, hospitals, etc. Moreover, Afghanistan is very rich in mineral. India and Afghan interests are converging on many fronts and thus, keeping the Taliban at bay in Afghanistan is paramount for India.
The 7th HoA Conference Amritsar: What India Should Do?
For the given of geopolitical, geostrategic and geo-economic interests in Afghanistan, persisting terrorism, peace, stability, and security of Afghanistan have been the major challenges for Indian foreign policy. The 7th HoA is going to be held in Amritsar (India) on 3-4 December 2016. Thus, it is major opportunity for India. Highly terrorism infested, volatile, turbulent, poor, and plagued by stability and security Afghanistan has not been in the interests of India. The 7th HoA conference has been going to take place in Amritsar (India). It will be a good opportunity for India to use this platform to discuss the major being faced by Afghanistan as well as their viable solutions. The roadmap should be conceived here to make stable and peaceful Afghanistan. Many civilians and soldiers on both sides have been dying. First of all, using this forum, the issue of the ceasefire, shelling on the border, infiltration, aiding and abetting terrorism should be discussed with Pakistan to instill the sense of security not only among the border people rather the neighboring countries as well. At last, the platform of the 7th HoA should be used in such a way, so that solution of regional peace, pacification of Indo-Pak LoC, stability and security of Afghanistan should come out.