Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s remark that the Taliban are terrorists and that he would discuss with his G-7 partners in a meeting August 24 the possibility of imposing tougher sanctions on Afghanistan may sound to be an extreme reaction to the humanitarian crisis overtaking that country. But, the situation is turning messier by the hour with US President Joe Biden hinting at not extending the deadline of withdrawal of all US troops by August 31. The exodus of Afghans to other countries and the tales of horror they are telling the world make the Taliban’s narrative unacceptable. Taliban’s claim that they have changed and there won’t be any repetition of the ruthless repression and denial of rights to women as seen during their regime 20 years back is now highly suspect.
G-7 leaders of Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States are scheduled to meet virtually and discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
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The British government has stopped short of taking a strong position as suggested by Trudeau, but it has made it clear the behaviour of the Taliban will decide the relief on existing sanctions.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will chair the virtual meeting, has promised “to use every humanitarian and diplomatic lever” to protect human rights in Afghanistan. The G-7 meeting is expected to draw up a plan for a unified approach to the Afghanistan crisis exacerbated by the mad rush of thousands of Afghans towards the airport in Kabul to flee the country fearing reprisals by the Taliban for having worked with the USA and its allies during the war on terror over the past two decades. The leaders of the G-7 countries are expected to reaffirm their commitment to preserving the gains made in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, including girls’ education and the rights of women and minorities.
This G-7 meet will be high in contrast to the last one held at Cornwall in June earlier this year. Joe Biden, upbeat after his election win, along with other leaders, only talked about overcoming the pandemic and reviving their economies. No one mentioned or even publicly remembered the longest war ever of the US and its NATO allies that was being fought at that very moment by them in Afghanistan. Little did the world suspect at that time that barely two months later those same leaders would take a step that would put a huge question mark on the relevance of those successful economies in the 21st century. While there is no doubt that the prestige of the US and its strong allies has taken a massive beating with the manner in which the terrible withdrawal of western forces has taken place from Afghanistan yet there is truth in what Joe Biden has said about the two decades old war. The American President has stated that unless the people of Afghanistan want to fight for their own security and freedom, no one else can deliver these to them forever.
Now, it is only India which will have to suffer for its lack of far-sighted foreign policies. India just sat in the US bandwagon and expected to reap rich dividends without thinking and planning for the future. It completely relied on the Americans to deliver all that was required to be present in Afghani soil, never even dreaming that the situation could change so very dramatically. Pakistan, on the other hand, had always kept a strong link with the Taliban and encouraged certain bad elements amongst them for maintaining a strong grip on the extremists. The promotion of the Haqqani Network by the Pakistani intelligence agencies is one such notable example. India, on the other hand, has invested billions of dollars in almost all provinces but is now simply cut out and thrown aside. It cannot reenter Afghanistan unless the Pakistani establishment so desires, which seems extremely unlikely. China has played a smart game of piggyback riding on Pakistan to safeguard its western Moslem dominated provinces from being disturbed by Taliban extremism. It has also ensured its total grip on all the precious mines that Afghanistan has to offer. Notable amongst them is lithium apart from incredible deposits of gold, coal and other extremely valuable minerals.
After being jolted out of its slumber, the Indian government has called an all-party meet recently to assess the Afghan situation. Now the effort is to take everyone on board so that when the fallout commences, it would not be just the BJP-led government that will be held responsible. Rather every political party will be roped in together under the call of national unity in the hour of external threat. This glaringly demonstrates how, if internal political opportunism and biases are not kept aside while dealing with external policies and threats, greater national interest is hampered.
