KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 1

South Asian security and foreign policy experts have expressed concern about the risk of terrorism spreading from Taliban ruled Afghanistan that could destabilise the entire region.

Speaking at a seminar organised by Consortium of South Asian Think Tanks on the theme 'Afghanistan: the way forward' Convener of Chankya Chakra, New Delhi, Dipankar Banerjee said that global problems such as economic meltdown, threat to liberal democracy, trend of authoritarian system in the world and religious radicalisation in South Asia would adversely impact the security and political situation in the region.

He said if new kinds of terrorism found their roots in South Asia, that could undermine the sovereignty of the region's countries.

Banerjee said a new method of regional cooperation and regionalism needed to be explored to enable South Asia to overcome its present challenges.

He said the threat of use of nuclear weapon by Russia in Ukraine had escalated the risk of nuclear war.

Indian Prof Suba Chandran who is the Dean of School of Conflict and Security Studies, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, said many other countries abandoned Afghanistan before the US left the country last year.

He said the current situation in Afghanistan should be a starting point for exploring regional cooperation and regionalism.

He said gas and electricity cooperation could be issues that could foster cooperation in South Asia region as the need for cooperation in coal and steel had brought European nations - that fought world wars - together and made the European Union a reality. Nepal's retired Major General Binoj Basnyat said the reemergence of Taliban government in Afghanistan could give rise to dormant and active terrorism in the South Asia region.

He said 17-18 radical groups should be watched carefully in the region.

COSATT Convener Nischal Nath Pandey said that the US' chaotic exit from Afghanistan had tremendously impacted women and children of Afghanistan.

He said the attention of world media outlets was getting diverted to other areas which would have impacts on South Asia.

Speaking via zoom, President of Afghanistan Justice Organisation Lailuma Nasiri said that in 2011 when Afghanistan was ruled by a civilian government representation of women had increased to 50 per cent in state organs, but there was no woman representative in the Taliban controlled government now. The Taliban government has scrapped the Ministry of Women.

She said the first Taliban government did not allow women to study and work in the formal sector and the situation was not different in the Taliban government-2.

Assistant Professor of Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan Salma Malik said via zoom meeting that the US which refused to deal with the Taliban ultimately signed the Doha Agreement with them after Pakistan government persistently made efforts to persuade the Americans about engaging with the Taliban.

Foreign policy expert Shambhuram Simkhada said external actors' interference cannot restore and keep peace in Afghanistan. Commenting on global security, Simkhada said the adage 'If you want peace, prepare for war' had to be changed to reform the state's behaviours that were detrimental to global peace.

On the occasion 'Afghanistan: The Way Forward' book published by COSATT and Konard Adenauer Stiftung was also launched.

A version of this article appears in the print on October 2, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.