In the aftermath of the US and NATO withdrawal of their troops from Afghanistan, India will be extremely concerned about the resurgence of the Taliban and its territory used as a haven for terrorists, experts said.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that all US troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11 this year, ending the country’s longest war, spanning two decades. In the process, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will also withdraw its troops from the war-torn country.

“Countries in the region, especially India, will be very concerned about the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan and the likelihood of a Taliban resurgence in the country, Lisa Curtis, who was deputy to the president and senior director of the NSC for South and Central Asia from 2017-2021 under Donald Trump’s previous administration told PTI.

When the Taliban controlled Afghanistan in the late 1990s, they welcomed militants and terrorists from all walks of life to train, recruit and fundraise in Afghanistan. Many of these activists, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, trained for operations in India, such as the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, Curtis said.

A prominent foreign policy and national security scholar with more than 20 years of service in the United States government, Curtis is now a senior researcher and director of the Indo-Pacific security program at the think tank Center for a New American Security (CNAS ).

Indian officials also recall the close cooperation between the Taliban and militants who, in December 1999, hijacked an Indian airliner. India could seek to use its role in regional efforts to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan, such as the recent UN effort, to stress its goal of ensuring that Afghan territory cannot be used by foreigners. anti-Indian activists, Curtis said.

India will be concerned that Taliban-controlled territory is once again a haven for terrorists, former Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani, who is now director for Asia, told PTI. South and Central at the Hudson Institute think tank.

The real question now is whether after the withdrawal of its troops the United States will continue to help the government in Kabul and whether the Afghan people will be able to keep the Taliban at bay, Haqqani said.

The Taliban showed no interest in peace, and the Doha process only reinforced their belief that the U.S. rush to leave Afghanistan outweighed their concerns about the future of that. country.

India and Pakistan do not have the luxury of distance that the United States has and will remain involved in Afghanistan. Pakistan is too deeply linked to the Taliban to stop supporting them now, although it should be concerned about the negative impact the Taliban ideology could have on Pakistan, Haqqani said in response to a question.

The Washington Post claimed in a main editorial that Biden’s plans to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan would lead to disaster in the region.

“Mr. Biden took the easy way out of Afghanistan, but the consequences are likely to be dire,” The Washington Post said.

The New York Times has said that stopping terrorist groups in the long run may be more difficult, a view also echoed by the Wall Street Journal.

The symbolic but arbitrary date shows that the decision is motivated less by facts on the ground than by a political will which is also a strategic bet. History suggests that American interests will suffer, the Wall Street Journal said in an op-ed.

The president’s exit means he will have to take responsibility for what happens next. We hope this doesn’t betray the great sacrifices made by so many, the daily said.

The United States and the Taliban signed a landmark accord in Doha on February 29, 2020 to bring lasting peace to war-torn Afghanistan and allow American troops to return home after America’s longest war.

As part of the US-Taliban pact signed in Doha, the United States agreed to withdraw all of its troops from Afghanistan within 14 months.

Since the US-led invasion that overthrew the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks, America has spent more than $ 1,000 billion to fight and rebuild in Afghanistan.

About 2,400 American soldiers were killed, along with tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers, Taliban insurgents and Afghan civilians.

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