Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s back-to-back meetings on Afghanistan on the side-lines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation take place this week against the backdrop of a crisis for India created by an inchoate policy towards the country’s north-western neighbour. An ill-judged initial refusal to engage formally with the Taliban, the failure to build a viable politico-military opposition in anticipation of the US departure and a reliance on soft power has, in effect, delivered Afghanistan to Pakistan and its powerful sponsor China, argues our
editorial.
It is revealing that key regional players like China, Iran and Russia have all engaged with the Taliban leadership and thereby accorded it political legitimacy. They have obviously calculated that the Taliban are the future rulers of Afghanistan who must now be relied upon to safeguard their interests, notes former foreign secretary