US must rethink strategy in Afghanistan as Daish infiltrates South Asia - expert

Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, said that due to the failure of the US' objectives to establish a stable post-Taliban regime and defeating forces of extremism in the country, the region was now vulnerable to groups like Daish.

"Daish has maximum penetration in Afghanistan and the north-west of Pakistan. If not checked Daish can become a new security challenge for the region by collaborating with other homegrown extremist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Although the relations between Daish and Taliban, and Daish and Al Qaeda are not very good, these are very loose organisations with elements between them that tend to gravitate towards each other, such as their local interest," he said at the APR session titled ''In Conversation: Asian Views on America's Role in Asia".

Citing India as an example, the New Delhi-based expert said that even as the country tried to contain extremism, it still experienced Daish infiltration activity, especially targeting India's large Muslim population and that this has been affecting India's domestic programmes, and the society.

Daish, also known as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), is an infamous militant group that was based in Iraq since 1993 before spreading to Syria and proceeded to making its mark worldwide with terrorism attacks throughout the world.

The Taliban existed since 1994 in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It governed Afghanistan since 1996 before losing power in 2001 through the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom.

According to reports, Daish started gaining a foothold in South Asia in 2015 through Afghanistan, but has now established its presence amidst continued instability in the war-weary country. The group had claimed responsibility over several major attacks in Afghanistan.

Chakravarty said that he believed the Indian government was doing a great job to control the rise of Daish extremism, by having one of the largest outreach programmes, including stopping their citizens from leaving the country to join extremist groups in foreign lands.

To contain the rise of extremism in the region, India also supported Afghanistan through development aid between US$2 billion and US$3 billion to support the building of infrastructure like schools and medical facilities in the neighbouring country after the Taliban was toppled in 2001.

The former Indian envoy to Bangladesh and Thailand highlighted that to tackle extremism in the region, the US administration must also bring Pakistan to the table as seven of the 20 US-designated terrorist organisations in the Afghanistan-Pakistan sub-region are reported to be in Pakistan.

Citing the 5th edition of the Asian Voices on America's Role in Asia (AVARA) report, which he participated in, and was published in February, Chakravarty said that the South Asian countries are deeply concerned with the prospect of a US retreat from the global stage, and hoped that it would not abandon Afghanistan.

"They believe that a precipitous reduction of US engagement would be dangerous, hence deep concern about Washington's political will to sustain its longstanding international security commitments," he said.

South Asia comprises eight countries with a population of about 1.8 billion and a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.6 trillion. Apart from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the other countries are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka.