Topic: India and its neighborhood- relations.
5) Should India jump on the bandwagon of engaging the Taliban or continue to hold arrangements with the government in Kabul? Critically analyse amidst the rising valid concerns. (250 words)
Why this question:
The India Afghanistan relationship is not a simple bilateral engagement. India’s Afghan policy is driven by many extraneous factors such as its geographical constraints, its search for a transit route to Central Asia through Afghanistan and Iran, its troubled relationship with Pakistan and the growing threat of terrorism in India and Afghanistan and the recent coming of Trump’s policy etc.
Key demand of the question:
The answer must revolve around the need for India’s big role in engaging with Afghanistan and India’s stance towards Taliban. Emphasize that India has a greater role to play in reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan and thus India can not lack ambition in this direction.
Directive word:
Critically analyze – When asked to analyse, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgement.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin with narration of recent geopolitics involved in Afghanistan’s current government’s engagement with that of other countries excluding India.
Body:
- Draw a map of the location, mark some relevant information showing geo-political significance of Afghanistan.
- Then move onto discussing the current relationship between India and Afghan also trace the same historically.
- Handling Taliban – what should be India’s stand?
- Then discuss the policy shift of US and its implication on the overall equation of geopolitics in the region.
- What should be India’s role in current context.
Conclusion:
Conclude by re- asserting India’s significant role in Afghan and Taliban affair.
