COMPETING FOR STRATEGIC DEPTH: INDIA‒PAKISTAN STRATEGIC COMPETITION IN AFGHANISTAN SINCE THE 2021 U.S. EXIT

After the withdrawal of the U.S. and NATO from Afghanistan, the geopolitical dynamics of the region have been significantly transformed. This power vacuum has rendered Afghanistan a contested space for India and Pakistan to pursue their strategic depth while countering each other’s influence. India, to achieve its national interests, utilizes soft power and a calculated strategic approach through limited collaboration with the Taliban to contain Pakistan’s influence. Conversely, Pakistan supports the Taliban regime and employs non-state actors as leverage to secure and maintain strategic depth against India. The study, while adopting the theoretical framework of the Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT), hypothesizes that geopolitical competition in post U.S. withdrawal Afghanistan has influenced the role of Afghanistan in the South Asian security architecture by fueling the proxy warfare, influencing regional security dynamics, ultimately leaving Afghanistan as a contested geographical space central to the India‒Pakistan strategic competition.