AFGHANISTAN: THE THEATRE OF INDIA-PAKISTAN RIVALRY
| Author | Sourish Ghosh |
| Date | 01 June 2012 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0973598412110005 |
| Published date | 01 June 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
AFGHANISTAN:
THE
THEATRE
OF
INDIA-PAKISTAN
RIVALRY
SouRISH GHosH
Doctoral
Scholm~
D
ep
artment
of
International Relations, Jadavpur University
e.mail:
sourishgltosh.ju@gmail.com
A
fghanistan.
is
a
landlocked
state
but
it
is
not
an
isolated
tract
of
land
in
history. Infact,
it
was
the
cross-over
point
of
the
Silk
Route
from
China
to
the
Middle
East
and,
at
the
same
time,
the
hub
of
India-Europe
trade
for
centuries.
Afghanistan
is
·
surrounded
by
Pakistan
in
the
south
and
east,
by
Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan
in
the
north
and
northwest
and
by
Islamic
Republic
of
Iran
in
the
west
and
China
in
the
northeast.
Although,
for
practical
purposes,
India
does
not
share
borders
with
Afghanistan
(though
Pak-occupied
Kashmir
borders
Af-
ghanistan),
New
Delhi
considers
it
to
be
an
important
neighbour.
It
is
seen
as
a
bridge
connecting
India,
Central
Asia
and
Iran.
From
a
security
point
of
view,
Afghanistan
is critical to
the
rest
of
South
Asia.
The
massive
loss
of
lives,
the
continued
food insecurity,
the
dis-
placement
of
approximately
six
million
people
and
the
disabling
of
another
three
million,
in
addition
to
the
severe
reduction
in
social
services
as
the
result
of
turmoil
in
Afghanistan
for
the
last
three
decades,
are
some
of
the
major
problems
that
grip
Afghani-
stan
today.
Promoting
national
reconciliation,
establishing
last-
ing
peace,
stability
and
respect
for
human
rights
in
the
country
seems
to
hav
e
become
a
distant
dream.
Afghanistan
today
has
the
unique
distinction
of
being
a
country
where
major
and
su-
perpowers
have
come
to
experience
varying
degrees
of
grief
and
defeat
in
their
effort
to
control
it,
thus
earning
the
sobriquet
of
the
"Graveyard
:
of
Empires".
Since
the
US
military
in
t
rvention
in
Afghanistan
in 2001 to
oust
Taliban
and
desh·oy
the
existing
Al-Qaeda
network,
India
has
been
an
active
player
in
Afghanistan.
The
geo-strategic
location
of .
Afghanistan
and
consequent
security
impl
icat
ions
of
instabil-
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