New Delhi
6 May 2010
The US recognises the strategic importance of continued Indian investments in
Afghanistan, and it wants Pakistan to see them in the proper light.
These sentiments were conveyed to Pakistan when the US ambassador to India, Timothy
Roemer, called on Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad earlier this week.
Mr Roemer told journalists here that he had let the Pakistan leadership know that India's
development role in Afghanistan was critical for winning the "long-term war, which will be
at the sub-national level."
"India needs to be part of the picture," Mr Roemer said, without going into the details of
his conversation with the Pakistan president about India's role in the region and beyond.
Pakistan's response to the American suggestions was "thoughtful and considered" and
"hopefully [it will remain] positive in [the] long-term," Mr Roemer noted.
The American envoy had stopped over in Islamabad on his way back here from Kabul,
where he explored opportunities for collaborating with India in the reconstruction of
Afghanistan.
Washington is looking for synergies with New Delhi in the areas such as capacity
building, training for Afghan civil servants at local level, agriculture, education and
infrastructure.
Americans were understood to be keen on replicating the recent successes of the USAID
(US Agency for International Development) in working together with Indian entities in
areas such as marketing of agricultural produce.
In late 2009, several tonnes of apple were imported here after the USAID did market
prospecting in India for the 400-tonne surplus apple crop produced in Afghanistan.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is learnt to have fast-tracked the phytosanitary
clearance for the Afghan apple by sending two technical teams to Kabul for consultations
with their counterparts in the Afghan agriculture ministry.
The USAID, which is headed by Indian-American Rajiv Shah, is responsible for almost all
of America's non-military aid to foreign countries including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Indian companies are also engaged in contracting work for agencies such as the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) and in training personnel for operating the electricity grid in
Afghanistan.
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