Taliban : Endgame in Afghanistan

No, you are not dreaming. It isn’t 1990’s either. It’s 2021, and Kabul has, literally, fallen. This might just be the biggest development of the century in the world politics, at par with, ironically the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 which was done to overthrow the Talibani regime. Now you might think that Taliban taking over Afghanistan will not affect you and people of Afghanistan themselves should deal with their internal problems. While it is somewhat true, don’t draw conclusions just yet as Taliban coming back to power will have ramifications for the entire world.

Let’s talk about the consequences India, the other South Asian countries and Central Asian countries might face. India will particularly face the biggest losses if the Talibani rule is a prolonged one which, as things stand, seems to be the case. India will face both financial losses as well as security threat. The Taliban’s triumph threatens not just India’s diplomatic stakes in Afghanistan, but also 20 years and $3 billion worth of Indian investment in various projects — dams, roads, trade infrastructure. Security threats in the sense that after victory in Afghanistan, Islamic extremists might just plan a similar plot against India in Kashmir which would be, catastrophic to say the least. Similarly the

countries that will be benefited the most would be China, to some extent Russia and of course our not so friendly neighbor Pakistan. It is an open secret that Taliban has full support of you know who. Pakistan might be celebrating the Talibani victory as it’s own but it should know that it is playing with fire. Tehrik-i-Taliban, alternatively referred to as the Pakistani Taliban is a terrorist organization on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It aims to do the same with Pakistan what has been done to Afghanistan. Of course it will not be easy but Afghanistan Taliban’s victory will provide a safe haven for Pakistani Taliban and the terrorist attacks, in all likelihood, will only increase in Pakistan.

A major and probably the most important development that the Talibani victory has forced us to ask a question: Is this the end of the road of the US Hegemonic era?

Everyone would agree that the situation in Afghanistan is a major embarrassment for the US. Probably Joe Biden's presidency would be infamously remembered for the recall of the American troops from Afghanistan without a proper plan. But is this really the end of US hegemony? As things stand US is not able to cope up with a sort of coalition between China and Russia. It is also struggling to keep up with the spineless Diplomacy of China which does not have any principles and morals.

We are literally witnessing the history that will be taught in the future. We may not realize it now but this particular development can be the turning point in the world politics of the contemporary world and will for sure have a long lasting impact on the world. I would like to conclude by saying : “We are in the endgame now”.