New Delhi
1 March 2011
Former US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill's Plan B -- de facto partition of
Afghanistan -- does not appear to have many takers in India as there are reservations
about whether redrawing borders in Afghanistan will be consistent with Indian interests.
If the mood on Raisina Hill is any indicator, partition is not a desirable end state in
Afghanistan. Also, in the absence of an intra-regional traction for neutrality in
Afghanistan, India contends that international community must neither abandon
Afghanistan nor hand it over to a people who cannot be brought to account.
These sentiments are shared to an extent by Canada. William Crosbie, Canada's
ambassador in Kabul, told this newspaper in an interview here that the Afghan people
should be allowed to decide "what kind of country they want". He notes in the same
breath that there is "no real threat that Afghanistan will break apart".
Crosbie also says that Pakistan is part of the problem in Afghanistan. "Clearly,
Afghanistan and Pakistan got to enjoy a relationship of trust. It [Pakistan] has to be part
of the solution," he asserts. His remarks echoed that of US secretary of state Hillary
Clinton, who recently said that "the historic distrust between Pakistan and Afghanistan
remains a major cause of regional instability".
Afghanistan will be on the table during Indian Army chief's discussions with US Central
Command (Centcom) commander and others in the US next week, in what is described as
the first-ever high-level meeting between Centcom and the Indian military establishment.
Afghanistan, from where President Barack Obama of the US intends to begin pulling out
his troops from July, will be discussed again at some length when external affairs
minister SM Krishna meets Hillary Clinton here in April for the second annual India-US
strategic dialogue.
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