India should adopt "Wait and Watch" approach in Afghanistan, says Ambassador Venu Rajamony

Kochi: Former Ambassador of India Venu Rajamony stated that India should adopt a ‘wait and watch’ approach in Afghanistan. The recent developments in Afghanistan are a major setback for India, he said while speaking at a webinar organised by Centre for Public Policy Research, Kochi on the topic of Political Crisis in Afghanistan: The National Interests of India and China.

Ambassador Rajamony remarked that India’s strategy will have to evolve based on what’s happening on ground in Afghanistan. “India will wait and watch, and when it needs to intervene in whatever manner, it will”, he said. He also warned that there could be a spillover from Afghanistan into Central Asia as India’s neighbourhood is not in the happiest situation.

Professor Harsh V Pant, Head of the Strategic Studies Programme at Observer Research Foundation, pointed out that there is no particular need for India to devise a definite strategy in Afghanistan as these are still early days. He also added that that being a major power in South Asia, India should engage with new dispensation in its own terms.

This discussion is part of a series of webinars that CPPR will organise in an effort to comprehend ongoing stalemate in Afghanistan, the changing dynamics of Afghan political crisis and its future prospects by engaging experts from the realm of academia, think tanks, and media.

The webinar was moderated by Dr Shelly Johny, who is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at St. Aloysius College, Elthuruth, Thrissur. He is also a Research Fellow at CPPR.

This press release was published in Times Of India