The Russian and British empires battled over Afghanistan in
the 19th century, and the United States and the Soviet Union in the 20th.
As
the Taliban takes over in the strategic, landlocked nation, the new “great game”
has Pakistan in control, with its ally China looking to cement its grip on the
region.
اضافة اعلان
Pakistan has deep ties with the Taliban and has been accused
of supporting the Islamist group as it battled the
US-backed government in
Kabul — charges denied by Islamabad.
When the Taliban captured Kabul last week,
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said Afghans had broken the "shackles
of slavery".
As the Taliban holds discussions to decide on its government
model, media reports have said some Pakistani officials are involved.
A Foreign Office spokesperson in Islamabad said Pakistan
wanted an inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan that ensured peace and
stability in the region but added the "key role remains with the
Afghans".
China, with no previous involvement in Afghanistan but a
strong alliance with Pakistan, has held out an olive
branch to the Taliban, enticed by the country's mineral
wealth, including its large reserves of lithium, a key component for
electric vehicles.
China is also looking at the prospect of extra security for
its narrow land route through the Karakoram mountains into Pakistan.
And then there is India. India was a key supporter of the
ousted regime in Kabul and as both Pakistan and China become key players in a
Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, New Delhi's nervousness in increasing.
"China's primary concern now is for the Taliban to ...
build an inclusive and moderate regime so that terrorism would not spill over
to Xinjiang and the region. Any other calculus further to that remains to be
seen," said Zhang Li, a professor of South Asian studies at Sichuan
University.
The US government says ETIM no longer exists as a formal
organization and is instead a broad label China uses to oppress a variety of
Muslim ethnic groups, including Uyghurs, in its Xinjiang region. China denies
all accusations of abuse.
China has dangled the prospect of providing the two things
the Taliban needs to govern Afghanistan: Diplomatic recognition and much-needed
infrastructure and economic assistance, said Brahma Chellaney, professor of
strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi.
"An opportunistic China is certain to exploit the new
opening to make strategic inroads into mineral-rich Afghanistan and deepen its
penetration of Pakistan, Iran, and Central Asia," he said.
Bitter memories
There was much cheering in Pakistan over India's
discomfiture at the turn of events, said Raza Ahmad Rumi, a political
commentator, who teaches at Ithaca College in New York.
The two countries have
fought three wars since they became independent nations when the subcontinent
was divided in 1947.
"The jubilation in Pakistan witnessed on social media
and TV screens was largely linked to the undoing of Indian influence as
conventional policy circles viewed (Afghan President Ashraf) Ghani's close
links with India as a threat," Rumi said.
India has bitter memories of the previous Taliban stint in
power from 1996 to 2001 and the group's links to Pakistan.
"Our position today is one of adjusting to reality. We
have to play the long game in Afghanistan. We don't have a contiguous border
but we have stakes there," said Jayant Prasad, a former Indian ambassador
to Kabul.
Over the past year as the Taliban emerged as a dominant
force and US-brokered negotiations began in Doha, Indian diplomats had opened a
line with the group, diplomatic sources in New Delhi said.
"We are talking to all stakeholders," one of them
said, but did not want to get to the specifics of the discussions. There has
been criticism at home that India put all its eggs in the basket of the Ghani
government when the United States itself had begun talks with the Taliban, and
that New Delhi left it too late.
Still, India as a major economic player can be attractive to
the Taliban, looking to avoid an over-dependence on China, the source said.
India has development projects in every one of Afghanistan's
34 provinces, small and big, including the parliament building in Kabul that it
built, which was over-run by gun-toting Taliban men after sweeping into the
city last week.
"This is not a rerun of the past. Everyone is going to
be much more careful this time about letting Islamist terrorism in Afghanistan
explode as in the pre-September 11 days,” said Myra MacDonald, a former Reuters
journalist.
"Plus in relative terms, India is much more
economically stronger than Pakistan this time around."
A senior member of the Taliban has told Reuters that
impoverished Afghanistan needs help from countries in the region, including
Iran, as well as the United States and Russia.
"We expect them to help us, to support our people,
especially the health sector and especially the business sector and mining
sector," said Waheedullah Hashimi, who has access to the group's
decision-making.
"Our job is to convince them to accept us."
Read more
Opinion and Analysis
.jpg)
.jpg)
