New Delhi, May 4 -- On August 17, 2021 US President Joe Biden delivered a historic speech on the chaotic American withdrawal from Afghanistan from the East Room of the White House, wherein he rationalized the decision, which was universally criticized, as necessary because Washington, he said with some rare candour, was overtaken by the events that happened "more quickly than we anticipated".

"The events that we are seeing now are sadly proof that no amount of military force would ever deliver a stable, united and secure Afghanistan, that is known in history as the graveyard of empires. What is happening now, could just as easily happened five years ago, or 15 years in the future.", adding sheepishly that the US was now focusing on "what...