Days of considering Afghanistan as 'Strategic Depth' are over

United Nations: India has sent a strong message to Pakistan, which is trying to use Afghanistan as part of its anti-India policies. The days of seeing Afghanistan as part of its strategic depth are over, Indian diplomats told the United Nations Security Council. India strongly criticized the policy of using Afghanistan for strategic purposes, adding to the suffering of the Afghan people and leading to chaos in the region. Without mentioning the name directly, the Indian diplomatic officials explained that Afghanistan has suffered due to such tactics of Pakistan. At the same time, India has assured the Security Council that India will help the people of Afghanistan by establishing peace and stability with the help of the international community.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (Western Division) Sanjay Verma spoke at the United Nations Security Council’s conference on Afghanistan. Without naming names, Verma blamed Pakistan for the current situation in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s military officials have consistently viewed Afghanistan as a ‘strategic depth’ and have publicly admitted it. The logic behind this ‘Strategic Depth’ strategy of Pakistan was to use the land of Afghanistan for strategic planning against India. For this reason, Pakistan started terrorism in Afghanistan and its consequences are still being suffered by the Afghan people. Sanjay Verma revised this history to target Pakistan without mentioning it directly.

But now, the days of mentioning Afghanistan as a strategic depth are over, Verma noted the changes taking place in Afghanistan. A year after taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban regime has lost sight of India’s importance. That is why we are not anti-India; the Taliban is appealing that India should contribute to the development of Afghanistan as before and complete the development projects here. The Taliban leaders had also announced that these Indian projects and the Indian embassy would be protected. Through this, the Taliban regime has disseminated to India that it will not dance to the tune of Pakistan. According to this, the news was also released that a team of Indian officials had recently visited Afghanistan. It was revealed that Pakistan was extremely upset due to this.

In such a situation, these statements made by Verma regarding Afghanistan become attention-grabbing. The ongoing clashes along the Durand Line border between Afghanistan and Pakistan show that a new conflict is brewing between Pakistan and the Taliban. Against this backdrop, Afghanistan could no longer see Pakistan as having strategic depth, which meant Pakistan’s influence over the Taliban had ended. While pointing this out, Verma appealed to the international community to ensure that Afghanistan’s soil cannot again be used by the terrorists of ‘Lashkar-e-Taiba’ and ‘Jaish-e-Mohammed’. Verma also pointed out a direct relationship between the drug trade and terrorism, saying that there is a need to pay special attention to preventing the drug trade from starting in Afghanistan.

Providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, establishing an inclusive government representing all Afghan communities, curbing terrorism and drug trafficking, and securing the rights of women, children, and minorities are India’s priorities throughout Afghanistan, Sanjay Verma added. With this, Verma clarified India’s expectations from the Taliban regime. Meanwhile, the Taliban regime is keen to establish cooperation with India, but Pakistani diplomats are expressing concern that the regime does not want to have good relations with Pakistan. Some of them have even started alleging that India is responsible for the conflict on the Durand Line.