As US withdraws from Afghanistan, it becomes evident that several countries have core interests in the region.
In Northwest of Pakistan, there was an explosion killing 13 people on bus terminal on 14 July 2021. 9 of them were Chinese. China claims it was a bomb and Pakistan states it was due to gas leak. Among victims, there were several Chinese engineers, surveyors and mechanical staff working in the dam project which is one of the China-backed infrastructure project within One Belt One Road Initiative Project in Khyber Pakhtunkwa province. China implies Islamabad unless it is taken under control, China has the intension to take matters in its hand. While China has an interest on Gwadar port as possible naval base, these kind of attacks complicate the matters.
YOUTUBE
Afghanistan ambassador to India said that unless Afghan government – Taliban talks succeed, Indian military assistance might be required. Naturally, this is alarming to Pakistan considering India its historical rival as neighbor.
China fears with US encirclement and believes that Gwadar port would be essential to avoid such encirclement. India considers to outflank the Chinese in Afghanistan due to its fear. Pakistan fears both India and China. And all these countries fear of jihadists.
It is likely that the battle on Afghan ground will remain intact between Taliban and Afghan government while all neighboring countries have an interest in Afghanistan mainly due to security aspects. Therefore, each countries try to take position in Afghanistan in order to create instability for its rivals.
It is almost certain that Afghanistan would be main battle of influence for these countries. And for Afghanistan, it might be adding more challenge to stabilize the country. Therefore, Afghanistan would likely to follow a balanced foreign policy with its neighbors, trying not to take any side among Pakistan, China and India.
