If Afghanistan collapses…- THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE

If Afghanistan collapses – which it might – its consequences will be felt far from its borders. Three of its immediate neighbours will be seriously affected. Pakistan and Iran sill have to deal with the arrival of a political entity on their borders that will not be able to control and perhaps would seek to create trouble in their neighbouring countries. China has invested significant amounts of resources to exploit Afghanistan’s large mineral wealth. It would also want to include the country in the land-based arteries of international commerce it is hoping to build in the near future. Work has already begun on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. A similar corridor is being constructed in Kazakhstan. The hope of linking the two by building a north-south system through Afghanistan will have to be postponed. India has also made large investments in the country; an agreement to upgrade the port at Chabrahar was signed this summer by Afghanistan, India and Iran. The Indians are hoping to connect the port with a highway that will go through Iran to Afghanistan. A great deal hangs on stability in Afghanistan for its neighbours and near-neighbours. 

The international community, led by the United States, seemed inclined to lend a helping hand but without getting too involved in the conflict. This was the approach the Obama Administration had developed during his second term in office. Under the Obama Doctrine, nation-building was to be left to the nations themselves with only marginal help from the United States.- Read More

If Afghanistan collapses…