Form of words:
nnational security advisor Ajit Doval Delhi is hosting a conference of Afghanistan’s neighbors on November 10 to discuss next steps in that disputed country. Doval’s Russian counterpart Nikolay Petrushev is arriving, as is Iran and all five Central Asian republics. Moeed Yusuf of Pakistan The invitation has been declined. china says it can’t come As it is busy. America is not invited.
this is the security dialog third attempt On any detection by the disputed area Via Media on Afghanistan – The last two conferences were held before the COVID-19 pandemic, before the world changed. Definitely, Afghanistan is in serious trouble Today – hunger is rampant, sometimes mothers are forced to sell their children to feed their families, Human rights defenders are getting killed in cold blood, while the ISIS-Khorasan terrorist group is attack on mosques and hospitals to inflict maximum civilian casualties.
None other than the Taliban’s top military commander, Qari Hamdulla, Last week Kabul was killed in an ISIS-K attack on the military hospital, raising some important questions: Will the Taliban take it? Is it going to retaliate and if it does, will it mean repeating? Blood donation cycle and rank instability As in the late 1980s?
Furthermore, India’s primary red lines are to contain terrorism – to ensure that overzealous fighters of Talibanized Afghanistan do not seek new loot in neighboring Kashmir – and to look at the recent impact. peace agreement Between Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Pakistan establishment none other than Sirajuddin Haqqani.
Recall that the Haqqani network has been accused of the 2008 terrorist attack in Kabul in which an Indian diplomat and defense attache was killed and that the Almighty Sirajuddin is today Afghanistan’s interior minister.
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inevitable question
So, this is how the stage is being set as the top intelligence chiefs of the region come to Delhi and set the limits of their thinking. Top of the agenda will be the question: Will India and The region recognizes the Taliban? If so, what does this do to the deposed but powerful Afghan diaspora, who had to flee after the Taliban captured Kabul without a shot on August 15?
But there is another question that India will have to answer if the world as well as the Afghans want to see New Delhi as a serious player in the region. That is, why is India not giving visas to Afghan nationals who want to flee the Taliban government in the last three months?
Ironically, Afghans consider India their closest friend, which has invested another $3 billion inside their country, both in the education and training of Afghans in India (over 40,000 in the last 20 years). Built dams and schools.
But the question that has been front and center on every Afghan since August 15 is whether this friendship is really worthwhile if Afghan nationals are denied visas, even for a short period of time?
Other countries such as Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Qatar, the US, Canada, Germany, the UK and other countries have welcomed Afghan refugees from August 15. Even Pakistan, which has had a bitter relationship with Afghanistan, has accepted the arrival of thousands of Afghans. So why has India rejected him time and again?
There seems to be no answer to this question. One economic times report good Citing an RTI request on how many Afghan nationals were given e-visas after Kabul fell into Taliban hands on August 15 – when Afghan passports were canceled for fear of falling into Taliban or Pakistani hands Was given – less has come.
An official said the “information is not available” with the State Department in the Union Home Ministry. Around the end of September, a second official said that approximately 60,000 e-Visa Application was obtained from Afghan citizens; The official did not say how many visas were eventually granted.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the answer ranges from “zero” to “very low”. Officials say that in the absence of direct flights, Afghans can only come to India via Qatar, Iran, Uzbekistan; And that the security risk outweighs the goodwill.
Is India reluctant to let Afghans in? If yes, why? Everyone saw how India went out of its way to evacuate Afghan Sikhs – carrying the sacred ‘saropa’ on the head of Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri when the flight landed at the Delhi airport – so what is the problem with Afghan Muslims?
And if it’s about religion, what does it do for India’s much-publicized self-belief that it has a unique civilizational connection with Afghanistan that cuts across centuries, ethnic nationalities and provinces?
Is India ready to throw away its hard earned money?
To be sure, the visa issue is not going to break water or create any ripples in the Doval-led talks starting Wednesday. Meanwhile, it is certainly a feather in India’s cap that it has been able to marshal so many top leaders at the conference.
The fact that Russia’s NSA Patrushev is arriving in the city and China has turned down the invitation shows that there is some distance between Moscow and Beijing on the Afghan question – although both have kept their embassies open in Kabul. India has done well by inviting both China and Pakistan, with which it has a current standoff, showing that it is ready to rise above bilateral disputes for the sake of the bigger picture.
It is a pity that Pakistan’s NSA Moeed Yusuf will not come to Delhi – he has “spoiled” India’s role in Kashmir since 5 August 2019 and cited his actions as a reason. Leaving the ground situation in Kashmir today, perhaps Yusuf should ask himself why Pakistan is so agitated when it has never recognized Jammu and Kashmir as part of India before.
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The conference is not about India-Pakistan
The truth is that this Afghanistan summit is not about India-Pakistan, it is about Afghanistan – Yusuf Must know this. But, of course, we’ve seen this movie before. India has linked several regional initiatives, such as linking the SAARC summit to bilateral demands that Pakistan should end terrorism first, so Yusuf could argue that Pakistan is paying India back in the same coin.
In this case, however, by bringing Russian, Iranian and Central Asian NSAs to Delhi, India has demonstrated its ability to expand the landscape – despite veto attempts by China and Pakistan.
Perhaps it is time for India to open its doors to Afghan citizens as well. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widely remembered in Kabul as the man whose rousing speech at the India-built Parliament House in December 2015 toppled the House. Perhaps the PM should go back to his speech and ask why it is necessary – no, integral – to India’s own belief’Vasudhaiva Kutumbkami‘ (The world is one family) to provide aid and hope to the very distressed Afghan community and to allow them to take refuge inside India.
After all, and finally, isn’t this unique relationship?
Jyoti Malhotra is the Senior Consulting Editor of ThePrint. She tweets @jomalhotra. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)
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