In 1991, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, initiating economic liberalisation in India, geared the country away from decades-long socialist ideals to the capitalist embrace. Interestingly, this was exactly the time when the USSR had been disintegrated in the wake of its failed war in Afghanistan.

Now, around 35 years later, India stands on another verge — will it keep snuggled in the US/capitalist embrace or is it time for another goodbye?

When in the socialist camp, India made good benefit of the Soviet-Afghan war. It got a presence in Afghanistan under the Soviet umbrella, wherefrom it provided training, funding and in-out passage to Baloch separatist groups, with the aim of destabilising Pakistan and weakening its position in the region. The second time, when the US invaded Afghanistan, India was there again, with dozens of consulates at the Pak-Afghan border regions, again backing terror outfits that kept wreaking havoc in the country for over a decade.

In both cases, India thought it was on the winning side, but twice it was proven wrong. The constant guerilla warfare of the ragtag mujahideen and Pakistan's support for them forced the global powers to shamefully retreat, and every time India, losing the plot, had to flee too. India wished to partake in the spoils of war, entrench itself in the Afghan future, get an inroad to Central Asia, and via this long cut, get a shortcut to regional hegemony.

But unfortunately for India, it was in the wrong boat, each time. Both times it should have learnt the lesson that sheer hegemony........

© The Express Tribune