NSC: “There Is No Harm in India Talking to the Taliban”: Senior Pakistani Journalist Zahid Hussain | Episode 107
Description
In this episode, Dr Happymon Jacob speaks with Zahid Hussain (Senior Pakistani Journalist and Author) about the future of Afghanistan in the aftermath of US military withdrawal. Mr Hussain provides a succinct view of hostilities already underway in different parts of Afghanistan. He also provides a measure of different possibilities ranging from a full-blown civil war to a political settlement. He is sceptical about a sweeping Taliban takeover of Afghanistan as it happened in the mid-1990s. The overall ability of the Afghan government to survive and fight back would depend on continued support from the United States, he argues. Mr Hussain also provides a nuanced picture of the Taliban today, as against its earlier more puritanical avatar. He unpacks Pakistan’s Afghan predicament in detail and provides an assessment of US-Pakistan relations going forward. As far as India’s Afghan policy is concerned, he sees no harm in India talking to the Taliban.
United States
