Afghan Crisis: An Indian Perspective
On a geo-strategic level, the conflict in Afghanistan is a fight for its natural resources such as access to Central Asian oil and to have control over the regional economies through the economically proven 'White Elephant' called CPEC project in Pakistan.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 17 Aug 2021 4:34 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Trillions of dollars of the US taxpayers' money went down the drain and more than 2,000 US military personnel were killed. What did the USA achieve? It is back to square one in Afghanistan, according to my analysis. From day one, since Operation Enduring Freedom was launched after 9/11, it was evident that all the safe havens and training for the terror groups were provided by the deep state in Pakistan and the entire script was written in Rawalpindi. Even if Pakistan denies training and abetment of the Taliban, how come Taliban is fighting like a professional army, with active air support when the world knows that Taliban cannot do it all on its own?
My question to the people of America, after seeing the 'elected government' of Afghanistan collapse like a pack of cards, is what is the return on the investment of the many US dollars sunk in Afghanistan and what is the ultimate return you got for the so-called fight against terror?
Right now, the burning question is: whose war was it and how many young soldiers of allied forces died? Did 20,000 get injured and countless manhours, money, machinery was spent just so it can all be abandoned like this?
Billion-dollar aid packages were given to Pakistan for being the frontline "ally" on terror (without proper audit or accountability). How that money was diverted from the actual work to fight India in Kashmir and creating terror attacks in India is well known.
On a geo-strategic level, the conflict in Afghanistan is a fight for its natural resources such as access to Central Asian oil and to have control over the regional economies through the economically proven 'White Elephant' called CPEC project in Pakistan. It is evident that Pakistan is playing proxy for the Chinese to give them a red carpet welcome into Afghanistan with a view to check India at the Chabahar side. But, the way Pakistan got exposed as a terror state it has landed itself in more trouble. It stands to be diplomatically isolated by its over-ambitious project of having strategic depth by "conquering" Afghanistan via its proxies i.e. Taliban. If we read the history from the British Era, Afghans are battle-hardened and never give up on their land. Any occupying external agencies will have a tough time.
Huge humanitarian crisis is unfolding as we discuss. The country is being pushed to stone age, female staff are being withdrawn from all working places and replaced by male staff. Multiple public executions are being carried out with barbaric methods. Gory videos are being circulated on social media w.r.t execution of police personnel and government servants. Even female journalists are not being spared. This is not what people of Afghanistan had bargained for. Contradictory statements are being heard from Taliban. It is really unclear who is in control even after the fall of Kabul.
Currently, the Indian government is working full time to help our stranded Indians, minority refugees (Hindus and Sikhs) and others. It is also fully aware of the situation and waiting for the airspace to open for humanitarian flights.
In this developing humanitarian crisis there is also the issue of migrant labour from India who travelled to the Middle East and other areas for work without proper papers or documentation. For last two weeks, I have received information about a large Telugu speaking group trying to enter Iraq on a visit visa to find the jobs via Dubai. What shocks me is that the same illegal agents provide the means to cross into countries like Iran and Afghanistan for work. Some of the distress calls received last week have been from Indian labour stuck in Afghanistan.
My suggestion to all job seekers is kindly abandon the plans of migrating to those countries where conflicts are there. It will take time for things to get normal. Till then, do not visit unexplored areas without the proper guidance of our embassy and consulate which are present in each country. In case one gets lost, secure yourselves first and then call for help. It is always advised to migrate through known routes with proper documents.
Author: Mr T.R.Sriniwas,has spent close to 27 years as a IT Technocrat and as Dairy Technologist. He has been working on Gulf Immigrants issues since years 2000 and helping them in various ways.
