TOPIC : GS 2 India and its Neighborhood- Relations.
US Withdrawal from Afghanistan
What is the news?
Background
- Start of talk with Taliban – Mid-2018 in line with President Trump& agenda to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
- 9 th round in Qatar in August 2019 close to signing the deal.
- In 2019, the US President Donald Trump abruptly called off ‘peace’ talks with the Taliban citing the killing of an American soldierin a suicide bomb attack for which the Taliban claimed credit.
About the Draft Agreement:
- Withdrawal of around 5,400 out of nearly 14,000 U.S. troops from five Afghan bases in 135 days
- Intra-Afghan talks
- Enemies of the US i.e. namely Daesh/ISIS and Al Qaeda will not be allowed to set up base in Afghanistan.
Concern for India: Threat to regional security
- Giving legitimacy to Taliban will lead to further radicalization of the region.
- Taliban leadership in Pakistan and deep state of Pakistan will accelerate efforts to talibanise the Gilgit-Baltistan and Mirpur-Muzzaffarabad
- Besides the Pakistan-based terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, and Jaish-e-Mohammed will start filling up empty spaces in Afghanistan.
- India is a part of number of development projects in Afghanistan which will threat from terrorist groups including the Haqqani network, Al Qaeda, Islamic State.
India’s stand
- The peace process has to be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-
- Afghanistan should build national consensus for talks with the Taliban.
- India was among the countries that had refused to recognise the Taliban regime of 1996-2001, as Taliban’s growth in Afghanistan was being driven by deep state in Pakistan
- India was among the countries that had refused to recognise the Taliban regime of 1996-2001, as Taliban’s growth in Afghanistan was being driven by Pakistan’s army and the ISI.
- India’s stand has been that the peace process has to ‘Afghan-led, Afghan-controlled and Afghan-owned’.
- All initiatives and processes must include all sections of the Afghan society, including the legitimately elected government.
- Any process should respect the constitutional legacy and political mandate.
- Establishment of democratic process with respect for human rights, including women’s rights.
- The peace process should not leave any ungoverned spaces where terrorists and their proxies can relocate.
Why Afghanistan is important to India?
- Regional Balance of Power:Afghanistan is tied to India’s vision of being a regional leader and a great power, coupled with its competition with China over resources and its need to counter Pakistani influence.
- India’s ability to mentor a nascent democracy will go a long way to demonstrate to the world that Indian is indeed a major power, especially a responsible one.
- India’s interest in Afghanistan relates to its need to reduce Pakistani influence in the region.
- Energy Security :Â The pipeline project TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India), which seeks to connect an energy-rich Central to South Asia, will only see the light of the day if stability is established in Afghanistan
- Strategic Location:Â For access to the landlocked Central Asian countries that border Afghanistan.
- Natural Resources:The country is home to resource deposits worth one trillion dollars, according to the US Geological Survey.
- Regional Security:A stable Afghanistan is important for regional security in South Asia
Mains Question
How Peace deal can benefit India with regard to Afghanistan?
PRELIMS PUNCHERS
- Lidar
It is a method for determining ranges variable distance by targeting an object with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. Lidar can also be used to make digital 3-D representations of areas on the earth’s surface and ocean bottom, due to differences in laser return times, and by varying laser wavelengths. It has terrestrial, airborne, and mobile applications.
Lidar is an acronym of “light detection and ranging” or “laser imaging, detection, and ranging”. It sometimes is called 3-D laser scanning, a special combination of a 3-D scanning and laser scanning.
Lidar is commonly used to make high-resolution maps, with applications in surveying, geodesy, geomatics, archaeology, geography, geology, geomorphology, seismology, forestry, atmospheric physics, laser guidance, airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM), and laser altimetry. The technology is also used in control and navigation for some autonomous cars.
- Black Soft Red Turtle
The black softshell turtle is a species of freshwater turtle found in India (Assam) and Bangladesh (Chittagong and Sylhet). It was long believed to be inbred individuals of the Indian softshell turtle The turtles he had brought to this pond were treated as sacred and respected by the public. Previously declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2002, these turtles were found still to exist in a temple’s pond called the Hayagriva Madhava Temple located in Assam, India.
The status is critically Endangered Through conservation methods and protection of the species, some of these turtles can be found today throughout the wild, and scientists and environmental biologists are continuing to work hard to preserve this endangered species and their natural habitat.
- Hayagriva Madhava Temple
It is situated on the Monikut hill. The hill is situated in Hajo of Kamrup District in Assam, India. Which is around 30 km to west of Guwahati. The Kalika Purana composed in the 11th century CE in Kamarupa talks about the origin of this form of Vishnu and his final establishment in the hill of Monikut, where the present temple is located.
The present temple structure was constructed by the King Raghudeva Narayan in 1583. According to some historians the King of Pala dynasty constructed it in 10th century. It is a stone temple and it enshrines an image of Hayagriva Madhava. Some Buddhists believe that the Hayagriva Madhava temple, best known in the group of Hindu temples, is where the Buddha attained Nirvana. At this imposing temple, the presiding deity is Vishnu, worshipped in the sanctum sanctorum as an idol carved of black stone. Four other stone idols are also in worship as subsidiary deities.
- White Winged Wood duck
One of the most endangered birds in the world is the white winged wood duck . It was once distributed widely across north-east India and south-east Asia. But now, only about 800 survive in the wild of which about 450 are present in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. In India, the duck is limited to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Due to its ghostly call, it is called ‘Deo Hans’ or Spirit Duck in Assamese
It mostly resides in dense tropical evergreen forest and is known to prefer inaccessible swampy areas formed by numerous rivers, streams, etc. It spends most of the day in secluded jungle pools, occasionally perching on the trees during the day.
PRELIMS QUESTIONS
- Consider the following statement with reference to black softshell turtle
- The IUCN status is Endangered
- It is a species of freshwater turtle found in India Assam and Myanmar
Select the correct statement using code given below.
(a). 1only                                (b) 2 only
(c). Both of them                (d). None of the above
Answer : D
The black softshell turtle is a species of freshwater turtle found in India (Assam) and Bangladesh (Chittagong and Sylhet). It was long believed to be inbred individuals of the Indian softshell turtle . The turtles he had brought to this pond were treated as sacred and respected by the public. Previously declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2002, these turtles were found still to exist in a temple’s pond called the Hayagriva Madhava Temple located in Assam, India.
The status is critically Endangered Through conservation methods and protection of the species, some of these turtles can be found today throughout the wild, and scientists and environmental biologists are continuing to work hard to preserve this endangered species and their natural habitat.
- Consider the following statement with reference to Hayagriva Madhava Temple
- It is located in Assam
- According to some historians the King of Pala dynasty constructed it in 10th century
Select the correct statement using code given below.
(a). 1only                                (b) 2 only
(c). Both of them                (d). None of the above
Answer : C
It is situated on the Monikut hill. The hill is situated in Hajo of Kamrup District in Assam, India. Which is around 30 km to west of Guwahati. The Kalika Purana composed in the 11th century CE in Kamarupa talks about the origin of this form of Vishnu and his final establishment in the hill of Monikut, where the present temple is located.
The present temple structure was constructed by the King Raghudeva Narayan in 1583. According to some historians the King of Pala dynasty constructed it in 10th century. It is a stone temple and it enshrines an image of Hayagriva Madhava. Some Buddhists believe that the Hayagriva Madhava temple, best known in the group of Hindu temples, is where the Buddha attained Nirvana. At this imposing temple, the presiding deity is Vishnu, worshipped in the sanctum sanctorum as an idol carved of black stone. Four other stone idols are also in worship as subsidiary deities.