There is a clear divergence between the strategic positions India and the US have taken on Afghanistan, which has widened more now that the US has described the Afghan Taliban as “not a terrorist organisation”.
The timing of the US definition is also peculiar because only days ago India not only played host to President Barack Obama but also engaged with him in a crucial dialogue on counter terrorism.
It is apparent that US interest now lies in getting its armed personnel safely out of Afghanistan when the time comes to depart. The US reward of $10 million on the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, is still live, which makes the US position extremely complicated, however much the US press tries to explain the distinction between the Afghan Taliban and its allies in Pakistan like the Tehreek-e-Taliban and Haqqani network.
Having borne much of the brunt in Afghanistan, with our embassy attacked often and Indian citizens killed by various groups, including the Taliban egged on by Pakistan, India cannot easily make sense of this talk of good Taliban and bad Taliban.
Having once tried to engage the Taliban in talks in Doha, it might be American policy now to play along with the “soft” Taliban and Pakistan with the prime focus on the pullout.
A US long-term view can also be said to encourage some kind of power-sharing arrangement for the Taliban in a future Afghan dispensation. Out here, we can only nod our heads and suspend disbelief.
