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The complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan before September 11 is turning out to be a complicated affair. Taliban is gaining a strong foothold in Afghanistan. It has not shown any seriousness in negotiations over intra-Afghan dialogue and has formulated a strategy to gain control of Kabul. Hence many questions arise about the future of Afghanistan and its people. In order to understand the current evolving situation in Afghanistan, Vivekananda International Foundation organized a virtual talk on “Situation in Afghanistan” by H.E. Mr. Rahmatullah Nabil former head of Afghanistan’s NDS on 10th June 2021.

Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director VIF in his opening remarks pointed out how the situation in Afghanistan remains complex as the peace process remains stalled and violence remains at all time high. He pointed out that India has a deep interest in understanding the ground situation in Afghanistan that is beyond the multiple narratives in media. Mr. Nabil presented a grim picture of Afghanistan. In his talk he brought out that there is no real progress on the peace process. Taliban has obstructed the peace process, as they are not interested in the power sharing agreement with the Ghani government. They have come up with military strategy to capture as much territory as possible. On the political situation he explained that amongst the political elites there is no consensus on the definition of peace. The political differences amongst the various disparate groups are impacting the military strategy as well as the morale of Afghan National Security forces. While the ANSF is bravely fighting and putting a strong resistance against Taliban, the problem of logics support and micromanagement remains.

Mr Nabil also pointed out that USA is pushing Afghanistan to come up with bilateral security arrangement with Pakistan. In his concluding remarks he pointed out that overall the situation in Afghanistan remains tense as the peace process is not working and there is political disunity at the centre. The talk was followed by a stimulating interactive session.