India’s intense competition with China is the main reason for the strategic alliance between India and the United States.

By Abdul Naser Noorzad, Security and Geopolitics Researcher, specially for Sangar

There has been much speculation about India’s efforts to reach out meaningfully to the Taliban regime. Some see it as an approach based on India’s comeback after the collapse of the republican system in Afghanistan. Some see it as an attempt to achieve strategic rapprochement with the United States, which will be implemented under the “South Asia Strategy” doctrine with the participation of India and other strategic allies in the region, especially Afghanistan. It has even been argued that the Indians are trying to play a clever game at this moment and take advantage of the vacuum created between Pakistan and the Taliban, which is hard to believe. Although the true nature of the issue can be taken as per the developments, the complexity of the security and intelligence games, and the analysis of the situation.

The new Indian maneuvers in Afghanistan are part of the half-finished US roadmap for South Asia, which is being implemented this time through a multilateral approach. The Indians are included in the post-Trump Afghan project in consultation with the United States. This roadmap was designed to increase the influence and hegemony of the United States and its allies, or at least to reduce or prevent the influence of China in the South Asian region and identified the Asian axis, including Russia, Iran, and China, as the greatest geopolitical threat to the new American order that emerged from the collapse of the foundations of the bipolar system and the disintegration of the former Soviet Union.

Now, given the complex and confused state of the international system, the emergence of new state and non-state actors, Asia-centric efforts to change the nature of the international order, a return to the path of rebalancing, and attempts to influence regions of strategic importance, the United States has the unusual combination of India, Pakistan, East Asia, all of which are strategically aligned with America through commitments in security organizations like AUKUS and Quad, all of which are operating on the same front against China, Russia, and Iran. They are trying to create a ring of allies to tighten the encirclement of China.

In this regard, the role of India and its historical connection with the geography of Afghanistan is very valuable and of strategic importance. On the other hand, India's intense competition with the People's Republic of China is the main reason for the strategic alliance between India and the United States. Both countries oppose China's ambitions in East Asia and the Indo-Pacific region and China's efforts to ensure the security and supply chains of its giant machine. In addition, the US efforts to curtail China’s supply networks that constantly operate through strategic waterways are included in the annex of this strategy.

After the developments in the Middle East, the Ukrainian issue in Eastern Europe, attempts to maintain a US presence in Iraq, and the Iranian nuclear issue, it is now the turn of Afghanistan. Afghanistan under the Taliban is a good platform to counter Chinese hegemony, which is envisaged under the US Roadmap for South Asia. This also fits in with India’s interests.

However, India is trying to exploit the current situation to its advantage by leveraging the support of the US under the Trump leadership, which has been harshly attacking China and overreacting to regional unrest after the withdrawal of US troops and is trying to take full advantage of the situation. Gaining the trust of the Taliban, regaining influence in Afghanistan, using Afghanistan’s location for regional transit, which is possible through the port of Chabahar, and trying to curb the impact of China and Pakistan in Afghanistan are some of the main reasons for this strategic partnership with the United States in which India has taken a leading role. Of course, India, understanding the current situation and taking into account its key goals and vital interests, is ready to strengthen relations with the Taliban and play a role in the affairs of Afghanistan in the future.

This time, through its strategic partnership with the United States, India has become part of the US regional strategy in Central, South, and East Asia. India is trying, guided by its strategic vision, on the one hand, to secure its economic plans, including the oil it needs from the region, and on the other hand, it is trying to become a key and influential partner in the new American program, through which it can protect its vital and strategic interests.

It should be noted that everything that is said about India's role in the region is conditioned by Indian nationalist views, vital economic and defense interests, and an attempt to strengthen the security foundations of this country's foreign policy, which stem from the actions and reactions of its main competitors, i.e. China and Pakistan. Although India is in a constant security conflict with Pakistan, this time the issue of China's hegemony is much more important than the Pakistan threat. Pakistan has fallen into a large-scale political, economic, and security crisis, which is less of a threat to India.

The Indians, given the new rules of the game, are trying to secure US support in the region with the traditional policy of patience and analysis of the new situation. For this reason, after the fall of the Republic, which led to the strengthening of the presence of China, Russia, and Iran in Afghanistan under the leadership of the Taliban, the Indians, pursuing a cautious policy, were looking for an opportunity to become part of the multilateral policy of their rivals in the Asian axis, which accompanies the American South Asian strategy. By deepening relations with the Taliban, the Indians want to show that the Asian axis is not the only one, that does not have sole control over the Afghan field and that in this regard, it is necessary to take into account the interests of India.

Now it remains to be seen how the reaction of the region will be interpreted to this strategic step of India to restore its presence in the Afghan issue and accompany the United States in the context of their competition with the Asian axis. Will the Asian axis' position continue to be based on engagement with the Taliban regime or will the region also use its tools and capabilities to confront this regime, whose most important partner in the region is India, and adopt a confrontational policy to sabotage it?


Politics

Geopolitics

Religion

Subscribe

Terrorism

02-Jan-2025 By admin

Is Tahrir al-Sham better than the…

Islamic countries are being driven into such a hole where they have no choice but to choose one of two evils.