Af-Pak-China Axis DK Giri The US engagement in Afghanistan is somewhat akin to their lost war in Vietnam. There, America militarily stayed over a decade and withdrew without achieving its purpose. Similarly, in Afghanistan, they remained deeply engaged for two decades and left without accomplishing the tasks – to secure democracy and stability in Afghanistan. Many observers including the government of Afghanistan hold the view that the American mission is a failed one. However, unlike Vietnam, the consequences of America’s ‘failure’ in and withdrawal from Afghanistan bode ill for India. As the Taliban is marching unstoppably towards Kabul, a nefarious nexus is growing between Afghanistan (Taliban), Pakistan and China. Taliban has openly announced that China is a friend and it will not react to anything happening to the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. If Pakistan and Taliban engineer cross-border terrorism in Kashmir and China pushes the envelope in Ladakh, where three external provocateurs converge, New Delhi will have a plateful of security issues to worry about.