Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, while speaking at an Observer Research Foundation event on ‘India-US Partnership: Securing the 21st century’ in New Delhi on Wednesday, 25 August, asserted that India had anticipated the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, only the timelines have changed.
“Everything that has happened was something that had been anticipated, only the timelines have changed. From the Indian perspective, we were anticipating the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan,” Rawat was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The statement comes merely 10 days after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, as evacuation from the country continue. On Sunday, 15 August, the Taliban struck the last nail in the coffin of the United States-backed government after capturing Kabul.
Before the supposed 'peaceful transfer of power' on 15 August, President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, conceding that the Taliban had won the 20-year war, while Taliban terrorists took control of the presidential palace.
Concerned about how terrorist activity from Afghanistan could overflow into India, Rawat said, “As far as Afghanistan is concerned, we’ll make sure that any activity likely to flow out of Afghanistan and find its way into India will be dealt with in the manner in which we’re dealing with terrorism in our country.”
Rawat asserted that any support in this “global fight on terrorism” would be welcome.
US Admiral John C Aquilino was also present at the event. When asked about the Afghanistan situation, Aquilino said, “The US is committed to getting its citizens out and its partners from Afghanistan. There has been close coordination between India and the Central command to ensure that citizens are safe and extracted. The US will continue to operate in the pacific to ensure that all nations continue to share prosperity and security,” ANI reported.
(With inputs from ANI.)
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