Who will fill the void – Russia, Iran, China, Pakistan or India? As US has completed withdrawal from Afghanistan this question has a lot of meaning in diplomatic as well as security affairs, not at the regional level but at the global level too.
It must be noted that not only US but UK and other NATO allies too have evacuated their forces from the Afghan soil. As per the reports, Taliban celebrated the moment of last withdrawal of the foreign forces by gunfire at the Kabul airport. It was the longest war on the foreign soil for US, continued for 20 years. Over 2400 US soldiers died in the longest war and over 20,000 US soilders injured during the this long period of war. According to an estimate, over 70,000 people killed during this longest war against terror.
Although, it is not yet clear that who will head the government in Taliban regime but the US has made it clear that it will operate its consulate from Doha. This is going to be a big disappointment for all those Afghan people, civil societies, NGOs and other groups, artist and artisan groups actively supported the US during the last two decades and unable to join those 1,230,000 people, evacuated from Afghanistan.
Now it is certainly a big question that who will fill the void? Pakistan has already showed its intention by saying “free from the shackles of slavery” as US announced its withdrawal schedule. Taliban’s comment “Pakistan is our second home” is enough to tell the relation between Taliban and Pakistan in this concern. But still it cannot fill the financial and diplomatic void of US and unable to fulfill the economic needs of the landlocked nation.
The answer would have been simple if it were a cold war era. Russia would have been the answer in case of US withdrawal. But, it is the uni-polar world and despite a soft Russian heart for Taliban’s regime it is difficult to say that Russia can fill the void despite its intensions.
Iran, too has shown a big heart for the people of Afghanistan during this critical time, but despite its relation with Afghanistan, experts too believe that it is difficult for Iran to sustain financial support for a long time as it has been facing several sanctions.
China has invested a huge sum of over $10 billion during the last one decade especially in mining, energy sectors, pipeline projects and several other projects. So, it has trade as well as security interests in its region. Moreover, China too has been showing its diplomatic inclination for a long time for the Taliban regime.
India too has several interests in the landlocked nation but as it preferred to follow ‘wait and watch policy’ despite its big investments and closed all diplomatic and counselor activities in Afghanistan. So, observers will have to wait little bit longer to reach any conclusion. MEA Jai Shankar too has indicated this during his briefing to a delegation of political parties after the instruction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, global observers are still waiting US move and US President Biden's address after the end of the longest war and Taliban's move after the withdrawal before reaching to any conclusion.
(An independent pvt. initiative)
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