With the US forces almost entirely out of Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden has said that America’s military mission in the war-torn nation would end on August 31. This withdrawn of military troops will bring an end to the US's longest war. The two decades long war consumed 2400 American lives without showing a clear win in return.
Speaking on the troop drawdown, President Biden on Thursday said, “We did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build. And it's the right and the responsibility of Afghan people alone to decide their future, and how they want to run their country.”
Moreover, the US’s military withdrawal from Afghanistan may be worrying for India. Following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan, experts predict that India would be deeply concerned about the return of the Taliban and its land being used as a shelter for terrorists.
According to Lisa Curtis, who served as Deputy Assistant to President and NSC Senior Director for South and Central Asia under the previous Donald Trump administration from 2017 to 2021, "Regional countries, especially India, will have tremendous concerns about the US pullout from Afghanistan and the likelihood of a Taliban resurgence in the country.”
Curtis explained that in the late 1990s, when Afghanistan was ruled by the Taliban, they encouraged all types of militants and terrorists to train, recruit, and fundraise from the country. Those terrorist groups included the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad and were trained for operations in India such as the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament.
Also Read: America’s longest military mission in Afghanistan to end in August: Biden
Officials in India recall the Taliban's close collaboration with militants who hijacked an Indian airliner in December 1999. Now, to ensure that Afghan territory is not again used by Indian militants, India may seek to use its role in regional efforts to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan, like the recent UN effort.
Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistan Ambassador to the US, now Director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute think-tank has similar views on the matter. He too says that “India will be concerned about Taliban-controlled area becoming a safe haven for terrorists once again."
“The real question is whether, after military withdrawal, the US will continue to help Kabul government and will the Afghan people be able to keep Taliban at bay,” said Haqqani.
Also, unlike the United States, India and Pakistan do not have the luxury of distance and will continue to remain involved with Afghanistan.
Pakistan cannot afford to quit supporting the Taliban now as it is deeply entwined with them. However, Pakistan should be concerned about the negative influence Taliban ideology might have on Pakistan in the future, says Haqqani.
An editorial by Washington Post also concerns that Biden’s plan of withdrawal from Afghanistan would have catastrophic repercussions in the region. According to Washington Post, “Biden has chosen the easy way out, but the consequences will be disastrous.