Response to Respondents

摘要

There is no cause for dismay over a growing sense of marginalisation of India in regional and international forums on the Afghan issue. Similarly, the resurgence of the Taliban and increasing Pakistani influence in Afghanistan should be seen as a temporary phenomenon. Sushant Sareen is right in arguing that the 'turn of events' in the 'not so distant future' could open up possibilities of India playing a larger role in Afghanistan. One has to bear in mind that India was never a major player in the three-decade-old Afghan war. As I had stated in my initial piece, India was neither part of the six-plus-two grouping in the 1990s nor was it formally invited to the Bonn Conference after the overthrow of the Taliban.