Indian military to assess and strategize over Taliban in Afghanistan

The Indian military brass led by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat is expected to brain-storm on impact of a Taliban regime in Afghanistan and its security consequences on India and the sub-continent this week.

The Indian military brass led by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat is expected to brain-storm on impact of a Taliban regime in Afghanistan and its security consequences on India and the sub-continent this week.

Given the ideological and operational affiliation of the Taliban, a UN designated global terrorist group, with Pakistan based terror groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Haqqani Network, the military brass including all the three service chiefs will study and assess the security imperatives of rise of Taliban in Kabul. The topic is a matter of concern as for the first time there will be no US forces on ground in Afghanistan.

The Indian military has a few areas of security concerns. Firstly, with the US leaving behinds billions of dollars' worth hardware in Afghanistan, there will be serious proliferation of conventional weapons among the jihadists in the Indian sub-continent with sophisticated M-4 and M-16 rifles replacing the ubiquitous AK-47. The biggest worry are the military grade night vision devices, which are normally subjected to US export control regimes, the tactical drones and loitering ammunition. These US made military hardware is expected to find its way to Punjabi Islamists group like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayebba (LeT) targeting India in Kashmir. The security situation will become dire when the Taliban cadre are able to fly the abandoned squadrons of Blackhawk helicopters and operate the all-terrain military vehicles.