The paper aims to comprehend the newly found challenges of Afghanistan that have emerged right after the sudden withdrawal of the American forces and have created a security vacuum in the war-torn country. The paper explores various dimensions through which a Taliban-controlled country can become the most significant security threat to the South Asian region and the rest of Asia, hampering the peace and stability of the region. Further, it reconnoitres the rise of the new Taliban regime and how it is different from the previous one.
Since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021, Afghanistan has faced a sharp decline in human rights, with women and minorities bearing the brunt of repression. The Taliban’s enforcement of moral policing, public floggings, and the systematic dismantling of girls' education reflects their rigid interpretation of Sharia law despite global condemnation.
The stirs of a hostile Taliban takeover began in the early months of 2021. In early May 2021, the Taliban and allied groups began to take an offensive coinciding with the US troops departure a few days before, after 20 years.
The South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Foreign Ministers meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting has become a convention since 1997. Despite the SAARC Summit meetings being cancelled or postponed, the SAARC foreign Ministers have met regularly to discuss the regional affairs.
On August 15, 2021, the Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan is over, after taking control of the presidential palace in Kabul. Except for the ongoing resistance from National Resistance Front (NRF) in Panjshir valley and sporadic violence from Islamic State’s Khorasan branch, Afghanistan has witnessed relative calm since then.