Afghanistan Crisis

Alisha Sharma
#197087
 Afghanistan Crisis
● Taliban militants swept into Kabul, taking over
Afghanistan
● Ashraf Ghani, the president fled in August 22
● U.S.backed government in place since 2001 is gone
● Banks closed for many days after the Taliban seized
control
● Many businesses shut down because their owners fled
the country
● rise in prices of day-to-day necessities
● Women who had jobs and supported their families
can no longer work
● Development aid given by foreign countries and
agencies to Afghanistan is all frozen.
 Afghanistan: Background
● Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,
● a landlocked country at the crossroads of
Central and South Asia
● Neighbors: Pakistan to the east and south, Iran
to the west, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to
the north, and Tajikistan and China to the
northeast.
● long history of domination by foreign
conquerors and strife among internally
warring factions.
● At the gateway between Asia and Europe
Afghanistan: Historical Background
Timeline

13th Century 1830-1920s 1979 1984 1995*

Genghis khan Britain’s attempts USSR BIn Laden’s first Taliban rises
to annex invades documented trip to power

2001* 2003 2019 2021*

Series of attacks between NATO takes US and Taliban sign Afghanistan Crisis
US and Afghanistan over security Peace agreement
Afghanistan: Historical Background
2021
April: Biden announces to complete
U.S. withdrawal by 9/11

July 5: U.S. leaves Bagram airfield

Aug 10: US withdraws from

the country

Aug. 15:Taliban take over Kabul

Afghanistan-US
The U.S. War in Afghanistan

The US officially recognized Afghanistan in 1973

September 11, 2001 Terrorists Strike the United States

February 29, 2020, with the conclusion of a peace

treaty between the United States and the Afghan
Taliban.

According to the BBC, the U.S. government spent

approximately $955 billion over the course of the last
two decades of battle in Afghanistan.

Biden authorized the full removal of federal troops on

Afghan soil by Aug 31
Afghanistan: Taliban
How Taliban came to power in Afghanistan
● The Taliban emerged in the early 1990s in northern
Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops
from Afghanistan.
● Taliban ruled Afghanistan 1996-2001 until US
overthrew them
● Afghans welcomed them initially due to their promise
of peace and stability
● enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or
Islamic law, once in power.
● The Taliban declared victory in Afghanistan on Aug.
22 after a 20-year-long war between opposition
forces, (Afghan government and the US)

● What does it mean for Afghanistan?

 Afghanistan- Pakistan
● significant trading partners
Afghanistan and Pakistan have a long history of tense
relations defined by five recurring drivers:
● sovereignty concerns
● security interests
● geopolitical dynamics
● cross-border ties and
● connectivity and trade.
U.S.-Pakistan relations have been defined by the needs of
the U.S. war in Afghanistan.
Hamid Karzai once described the two
The Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship is likely to further
countries as "inseparable brothers".
deteriorate
What does rise of Taliban
mean for Pakistan?
 Can Afghanistan’s Economy
Survive?
● Even before the collapse of government, Afghanistan was
facing daunting economic and development challenges.
● Afghanistan experienced a third COVID-19 wave starting in
April.
● Afghanistan’s economic growth was slow up to August 2021
● Recent political developments have pushed Afghanistan into
economic crisis.
● GDP shrinked by 2 per cent in 2020 due to the
pandemic
● GDP was to bounce back and grow by 2.7 per cent this
year
● two-thirds of the population live below the poverty line
● Agriculture is the main source of income and the
country’s main export
● According to the World Trade Organization,
Afghanistan exported $783 million of goods in 2020
● Dried fruits, nuts and medicinal herbs make up the
bulk of exports, mainly to India and Pakistan
● inflation could rise above the 8% upper band limit
targeted by the Afghan central bank
● The U.S. Federal Reserve has frozen all of
Afghanistan’s foreign exchange reserves in
its hands, amounting to some $7 billion
● The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
has similarly frozen the Afghan
government’s access to IMF resources
● Along with donors such as Germany, the
World Bank has stopped all disbursements
● The Asian Development Bank also has
suspended disbursements.
● The complete loss of aid is triggering a
fiscal collapse
 Afghanistan and SAARC
● Afghanistan was admitted into the SAARC as
the eighth member in 2007 as the youngest
member of SAARC.

● disagreement over the representation of

Afghanistan has led to the cancellation of the
meeting

● Controlling terrorism in the region is an

important objective of SAARC

● With the return of the Taliban, Pakistan’s role

and importance in Afghanistan has increased “I doubt that SAARC can play a role in
Afghanistan,” - Nihar R Nayak
● According to a diplomat, India is not ready to
sit down with Pakistan and discuss Afghanistan
in the SAARC mechanism.
Afghanistan Nepal
The history of Afghan-Nepal relations goes back two
centuries, with what the British colonizers called the
‘First Afghan War

Nepal, the chair of SAARC, should start consultations

with countries in the region on the implications for
regional peace and stability.

Nepal and Afghanistan also have trading relationship

Nepal’s current priority is to rescue the Nepalis there.

No matter what role Nepal plays, it can only be done

with the confidence of all member countries.
Can Nepal be the Next Afghanistan
Lessons Nepal can learn from Afghanistan

with the US and India getting closer militarily against China,

things are going to get bleaker for Nepal.

we are unimportant and insignificant due to our poverty and

weak military. That makes it a perfect proxy battleground for
major powers

like in Afghanistan, Nepal has also become the playground

for foreigners having different interests

the plight of Afghanistan can be a lesson for Nepal

 References

https://www.thegurkhatimes.com/diplomacy/can-saarc-chair-nepal-play-a-role-i
n-afghanistan/

https://theannapurnaexpress.com/news/could-nepal-be-another-afghanistan-1-2
862

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58443839

https://www.usip.org/publications/2021/09/after-taliban-takeover-can-afghanista
ns-economy-survive
Thank you