India anticipated the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban, said Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat here on Wednesday.
Speaking at a think tank event, he observed that India was ready to deal with a possible upsurge in terror activities that may be an indirect outcome of the victory of the Taliban.
“Everything that has happened was something that had been anticipated, only the timelines have changed. From the Indian perspective, we were anticipating the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan,” said Gen Rawat at the event titled “The India-US Partnership: Securing the 21st Century” by the Observer Research Foundation.
The event was attended by Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command (US-INDOPACOM) Admiral John C. Aquilino, who also met the Tri-Service chiefs and Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar.
Gen. Rawat expressed India’s concern over a possible increase in terror activities following the arrival of the Taliban fighters in Kabul. India’s “contingency planning” had been ongoing and the Indian forces were “prepared for that”, he asserted
He expressed surprise over the fast pace in which the Taliban moved into various cities of Afghanistan and captured Kabul. “The timeline has surprised us because we were anticipating this happening, may be a couple of months down the line.”
MALABAR exercise
The visit of Admiral Aquilino came ahead of the 25th edition of MALABAR, which will be held during August 26-29 in the Philippines Sea.
The Indian Navy said, “The aim of the exercise is to increase interoperability amongst the participating navies, develop common understanding and SOPs for Maritime Security Operation”. The MALABAR-21 would witness exercises covering all three domains of maritime warfare, including live weapon firing, anti-surface, anti-air and anti-submarine warfare drills, joint manoeuvres and tactical exercises, it pointed out.
Admiral Aquilino also met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who said the discussion covered “the developments in the Indo-Pacific”.
