Who will win the geopolitical battle for Afghanistan? China woos Taliban as US exits

America's withdrawal from Afghanistan and the country's capture by the Taliban has created a massive geopolitical vacuum in South Asia that beady-eyed world leaders have keenly felt. The US and its allies such as Canada, the UK, Germany and France extricate their personnel and diplomats from Kabul. However, other nations like Russia, China and Pakistan are in various ways hobnobbing with the presumptive incoming Afghan leadership and keeping their embassies and missions open. India, which has been a key friend to Afghanistan and its people over the last 20 years, taking up infrastructure projects crucial to nation-building, has an even more critical role to play now as the Earth's geo-strategic axis shifts. Which way will the Afghan pendulum swing.