Ready for overflow of Af terror to India: CDS
NEW DELHI: India is concerned about terrorist activity in Afghanistan spilling over into the country after the Taliban’s takeover, but contingency plans are in place to deal with the scenario, chief of defence staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat said on Wednesday.
The CDS’S comments came days after Taliban wrested control of the Afghan capital Kabul, capping a swift takeover of most major cities in that country. Rawat, the country’s seniormost military commander, said India anticipated the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan but its rapid pace was still a surprise.
“From the Indian perspective, we were anticipating the Taliban takeover. We were concerned about terrorist activity overflowing into India from Afghanistan. Our contingency planning is ongoing, and we are prepared for that,” Rawat said.
He was speaking at an Observer Research Foundation (ORF) seminar on India-us Partnership: Securing the 21st Century, sharing the stage with Admiral John C Aquilino, commander, US Indo-pacific Command.
The two military leaders held a separate meeting on Wednesday and discussed matters related to peace and security in the region as well as bilateral military defence cooperation.
“Everything that has happened [in Afghanistan] was anticipated. Only the timelines changed and certainly surprised us because we were anticipating this [takeover] happening a couple of months down the line,” Rawat said at the ORF event.
In an assessment as recently as last month, the Indian side concluded that the Taliban would shift its campaign to capture territory from rural areas to urban centres and provincial capitals only by the end of August, after the completion of the withdrawal of US forces. The Indian side also expected that there would be air support for Afghan security forces from the US if the Taliban entered urban areas. Assessments done by both the Indian and Afghan sides also suggested that the fighting would continue for at least two to three months, till winter set in.
However, the Taliban rapidly stepped up its offensive this month, seizing one provincial capital after another, both in the southern part of Afghanistan, the traditional stronghold of the group, and the north, where it had faced greater resistance in the past.
This was done by concluding agreements with warlords and commanders of the security forces, and thousands of troops simply surrendered without a fight at a time when the Ashraf Ghani government showed no indication of taking the fight to the Taliban. There was no air support on display either.