Maintaining goodwill in Afghanistan is in India’s interest | Images used for representation purposes Ony
All benefits from Teteatete between India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Mithri and Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki – August 2021 will ensure Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government avoids ordinary Afghans. If you don’t stop it, it will ultimately be wasted. It may sound diplomatic, but it’s true.
Meanwhile, India wants to be comfortable in Afghanistan to secure legitimate national interests, especially during a time when Islamabad and Kabul relations are in ruins. Misri’s rendezvous with Muttaqi in a third country, closing off a series of obvious and secret initiatives by New Delhi is proof that they are eager to go to all lengths to plead the Taliban regime. But on the other hand, we completely refuse visas to Afghan students, patients and businessmen. Afghans are effectively forbidden from entering India!
The surprisingly contradictory and two-sided approach of the Modi government invites some basic questions. Is it really possible to beat Afghanistan while deliberately maintaining an ordinary Afghanistan with arm length? India uses valuable influence in Afghanistan to pursue its strategic goals after closing the door in the face of ordinary Afghans and then shut it as if they were all terrorists. Do you want to do it? At this rate, is there any good will left in India among the Afghans to take advantage of us?
India bans Afghans from entering the country by suddenly canceling all existing visas four days after New Delhi closed its Kabul embassy, mid-August hours before the Taliban acquired Afghanistan All staff were evacuated to the The stunned Afghans were ordered to apply for the new E-Visas online. It has been almost three and a half years since then, but India has refused to issue visas to Muslim Afghans. However, they are granting visas to Hindu and Sikh Afghans. In fact, India will issue multiple entry visas to non-Muslim Afghans and rub salt on the wounds of Muslim Afghans. Figures submitted to Parliament in December 2021 show that of the 60,000 Afghanistan applicants for E-VISA, only 200 were given visas. Although no religious division was offered, the lucky ones were clearly Hindus and Sikhs, and considering Afghanistan is Muslim, the unlucky 59,800 were Muslims.
India has so far estimated that it has rejected visas to more than two Afghans, and the number has steadily increased thanks to the embargo. The worst hits are Afghan students registered at Indian universities, Indian Cultural Relations Scholarship, patients desperately needing treatment, Afghan spouses of Indian citizens, traders and businessmen. But the Modi government excavated its heels. There are no rest or signs of rollback.
Taking the record, Indian officials have been quoted in the media and say granting visas to Afghans is difficult for three reasons. New Delhi does not formally recognize the Taliban regime as a legitimate government. India’s Security and Intelligence Reporting Agency continues to warn the government of threats raised by Afghanistan visa seekers. Furthermore, although the Indian embassies and consulates in Kabul do not have a functioning visa section, the embassy has reopened on a limited scale within ten months of closure.
But these are crippling excuses, and to be honest. The fact in question is that religion becomes the standard for determining the eligibility of Afghans for Indian visas, making the entire process patentably discriminatory. The standard of faith undermines our secular constitution and is clearly determined by the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019, promoting citizenship from Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhism, Jain, Pakistan and Bangladesh but excludes Muslims.
A while ago, S. Jaishankar’s Foreign Minister said in Vadodara that “we cannot question India’s feelings about Afghans,” but cited “security concerns,” and that the applicant “waits a level of trust and efficiency.” Ta. Reboot visa. Jaishankar was forced to speak as he faced an angry Afghan student who couldn’t get back to his resume because his visa was revoked and his e-Visas was denied. I did. Their research.
As Afghanistan is 99.7% Muslim, the calibration and cold-blooded refusal of visas to Muslim Afghans is a civilized and people with Modi, Jaishankar, national security adviser Ajit dovalval I laugh at the claims of the relationship. , continue with the parrot.
More importantly, after Mithri Muttaki’s involvement, the Afghan Foreign Ministry officially stated in a post X that it had requested the Indian government to resume visas issued to Afghans. The Taliban delegation assured the Indian side that visitors from Afghanistan pose no threat to India and even offered to veterinarians the people who were given visas. However, India’s official statement skipped the issue of visas after a groundbreaking meeting. That’s an ominous omission. New Delhi is a time when we recognize that our relationship with other countries is against our national interests and therefore will not be hostages for the anti-Muslim ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The author is an independent Pegasized reporter and commentator on foreign policy and domestic politics.
