The New Great Game

PAKISTAN CONTINUES TO PROVIDE SANCTUARY TO THE TALIBAN. CHINA, RUSSIA AND IRAN WANT TO WOO THEM. INDIA MUST ACT ON ITS OWN.

- Vikram Sood

MAJOR GLOBAL POWERS like Russia and China and regional powers like Iran are now ready to embrace the Taliban — in their own interest, but ostensibly for peace in Afghanistan.

First, a quick review of the internal security and political situation is necessary. The Afghans say that the security situation is not as bad as outside experts suggest it is; but then, it is not as good as the Afghans would have us believe. Measured by any yardstick, the Taliban controls more territory today than they did last year. The fall of Sangin district in Helmand province to the Taliban on 23 March perhaps epitomises the security problem in the country. Strategically located between the Helmand river and Kandahar, the district is a centre of the lucrative opium trade. Control of Sangin is thus de facto control of the opium trade, and provides the Taliban a direct link between the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.

The stakes are thus high. No wonder that battles have been fierce and the largest number of British and American troops died in Sangin than in any other district. Since 2013, when the last year. The fall of Sangin district in Helmand province to the Taliban on 23 March perhaps epitomises the security problem in the country. Strategically located between the Helmand river and Kandahar, the district is a centre of the lucrative opium trade. Control of Sangin is thus de facto control of the opium trade, and provides the Taliban a direct link between the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.

The stakes are thus high. No wonder that battles have been fierce and the largest number of British and American troops died in Sangin than in any other district. Since 2013, when the control of the district was transferred to Afghan forces, hundreds of Afghans also have died fighting the Taliban.