Strategic equations in South Asia are undergoing a rapid transformation; India is, in this context, one of the key players.
On October 7, in a joint statement following the conclusion of the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan, among other 10 countries India, China and Russia, three big powers opposed Washington’s demand for the return of the Bagram Air Base from the Taliban government.
The airbase that was the centre of the American military campaign against the Taliban movement for two decades is one of the few airbases in a country that has a rocky, rugged terrain. Further, Bagram is also the largest airbase in Afghanistan and was home to some of the cutting edge military platforms used by the Americans during their invasion years.
With that said, it becomes essential to understand India’s motivation in reaching out to the Taliban despite the latter’s global isolation.
Opposing Imperialism
For a long time, India had been a victim of European colonialism. First came the Portuguese, and then came the Dutch, French, and English etc. Among the European powers, the British managed to outwit and defeat all its rivals and from 1757 onwards emerged as the undisputed master of the Indian subcontinent. In a rule that lasted almost two hundred years, Britain sucked the very life of the economy of India as well as undermined the vitality of the once proud Indians.
Shashi Tharoor, a former Indian diplomat, author and politician in his book An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India gave a damning indictment of the British rule in India. Contrary to the rosy picture conjured up colonial historians and official British reports, Tharoor lambasted Britain for pauperizing a country which once accounted for 25% of global economic output in the pre-colonial period.
Given the excruciatingly painful memories of the colonial period, India became the torchbearer of anti-colonialism in the decades after independence and launched the Non-Aligned Movement. It is in that context that India has once again assumed the mantle of opposing imperialism, this time it is in her neighborhood.
Given the fact that Afghanistan has been a victim of American imperialism in the past, India considers it all the more essential to ensure that the United States cannot ride roughshod over the sovereignty of another country.
Realpolitik
India, the world’s fourth largest economy in terms of GDP needs resources, particularly mineral resources to expand her economy and develop her industrial base. This requires her to wade through geopolitical complications in order to develop a secure supply chain of these resources. Afghanistan fits perfectly in that context. Afghanistan is one of the world’s most well endowed in terms of natural resources, particularly mineral resources.
According to an estimate, Afghanistan sits on mineral reserves worth $1 trillion. It has potential reservoir of 1.4 million tonnes of common and rare earth minerals These minerals include gold, copper, aluminum along with lithium and cobalt among others. The untapped potential of lithium in that country which is used extensively as a source of batteries in electric vehicles is said one of the largest in the world. Lithium also holds the key to India’s renewable energy ambitions, particularly in the development of electric vehicles. The transportation sector accounts for 8% of India’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG). India, therefore, would be keen to use it.
Notwithstanding the difficulty in the exploration, excavation and the eventual extraction of these precious resources, India possesses the technical expertise and know-how to utilize it.
With that said, it is also essential for India to forge like minded partnerships with allies like China and Russia and develop a trilateral partnership in the mission for the use of the mineral resources. Apart from that, the mineral resources must be used for the welfare of the common masses of Afghanistan to not only alleviate their poverty but to also contribute to the progress in the human capital of one of the world’s poorest countries.
In conclusion, it must be highlighted that in opposing USA’s demand, India has not only demonstrated the ability to stand up to American bullying, but has made it very clear that strategic autonomy continues to guide New Delhi’s foreign policy and in the process, India will not forsake time tested relationships.
Pranay Kumar Shome, a research analyst who is a PhD candidate at Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Bihar, India
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