Implications of Reincarnated Taliban on Kashmir

Ever since, the so called Taliban 2.0 has raised his head again in Afghanistan post US forces withdrawal, the dynamics of the geopolitics is changing continuously. The superpowers’ of the world are clueless about dealing with the reincarnated Taliban and India is no different. India’s biggest concern lies in the peace and harmony in the Kashmir valley.

Post abrogation of article 370, the Indian government, security agencies, armed forces ,CAPF’s, intelligence agencies etc. have tried their best to maintain peace and harmony in the valley but, the rise of Taliban in Afghanistan is a potential threat to that peace.

When Pakistan military and Inter Service Intelligence(ISI) failed to settle score with the Indian Armed Forces, they realized that they cannot win a head-on battle with the Indian forces; so, they shifted from war mongering conventional warfare methods to multi-faceted forms of non-conventional warfare like narco-terrorism, propaganda warfare, to name just to few to keep the pot boiling in the valley. Now, Pakistan’s military and the ISI wants to add Taliban in their methods to keep the pot boiling in the Kashmir list and achieve their objectives in the valley. Pakistan wants to use Taliban to keep the things simmering in the valley since acquisition of Kashmir is the sole base and relevance of the existence of the Pakistan’s military and the ISI. The acquisition of Kashmir is the sole opium which they have been selling to their population since decades.

Pakistan’s biggest headache is circumstances and evidences that are pushing it towards FATF’s blacklist. Pakistan wishes to utilize Afghanistan as the new breeding ground for its’ terrorist organizations and sneak under the radar of the FATF. Though, Taliban has clearly stated that Kashmir is an internal issue and they won’t interrupt in an issue that has only yielded bloodbath in the past 75 years but still the habit of Pakistan to beg favors is a cause of concern for India. Moreover, more than 1000 terrorists’ from different terrorist organizations’ breeding in Pakistan have fought alongside the Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan can convert this in his favor.

Pakistan has the full support of China and Chinese humongous funds, investment and aid could be a potential attraction for the Taliban who is bound to go cash crunch in the coming days as their accounts would be sealed, most of the nations would ban their trade with Afghanistan and the economy of Afghanistan would go in the drain.

India simultaneously would have to deal with a 3 front- war like situation comprising of Pakistan, Taliban and China and it would not be an easy job. India needs to keep the talks going with the Taliban since, a complete rejection or acceptance to the status of the Emirates of the Afghanistan, the state named by Taliban, could prove to be fatal for the Indian side. Moreover, additional deployment of forces in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and the areas bordering with China would be a preemptive step to counter any adversary in the coming times like insurgency, militancy, changing of the status of the Line of Control(LOC) etc. The country also needs to prepare itself against the bombardment of propagandas’ from our amicable neighbours’ since the Chinese are in no mood to let this opportunity go off and would use this to the fullest to credit the failure and embarrassment to the western world and particularly to its arch-rival the United States of America and its allies.