India's military chief General Bipin Rawat concerned about US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

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New Delhi: India is concerned about a vacuum developing in Afghanistan following the proposed withdrawal of United States and NATO forces from the country, the chief of the defence staff said on Thursday (April 15).

General Bipin Rawat told a security conference that the worry was "disruptors" would step into the space created by the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. He declined to name the countries that could act as disruptors, news agency Reuters reported.

President Joe Biden has said that U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan starting May 1 to end America`s longest war, rejecting calls for them to stay to ensure a peaceful resolution to that nation`s grinding internal conflict.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan would mean bringing to an end the country's longest war, spanning across two decades.

Since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks, America has spent more than USD 1 trillion in fighting and rebuilding in Afghanistan.

About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed, along with tens of thousands of Afghan troops, Taliban insurgents and Afghan civilians.