‘US, NATO troops pulling to raise tremendous concerns for India’
WASHINGTON DC: After the withdrawal of the US and NATO troops from Afghanistan by September 11, India will have tremendous concern on the resurgence of the Taliban and the war-torn country being used as a safe haven for terrorists, according to experts here.
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that all American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11 this year to end the country's longest war. Following suit, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) said it will also pull out its troops from Afghanistan.
Biden said his administration will ask other countries in the region to do more to support Afghanistan, especially Pakistan, as well as Russia, China, India, and Turkey. "They all have a significant stake in the stable future for Afghanistan," Biden said.
"We will not conduct a hasty rush to the exit. We'll do it responsibly, deliberately, and safely. And we will do it in full coordination with our allies and partners, who now have more forces in Afghanistan than we do," he said.
But, US experts said regional countries, especially India will view the complete withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan with tremendous concern and the role of the Taliban militants after the pull out of the Western forces from the wartorn country.
"Regional countries, especially India, will have tremendous concerns about the US pullout from Afghanistan and the likelihood of a Taliban resurgence in the country, Lisa Curtis, who was Deputy Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for South and Central Asia from 20172021 under the previous Donald Trump administration, said.