New Delhi
22 April 2010
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan can be expected to brief India about the
broad contours of the proposed reconciliation talks with the Taliban and the roadmap for
peace when he holds talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here next week.
Mr Karzai will be in New Delhi on April 26 and 27 en route to Bhutan for participating in
the 16th Saarc summit.
The twin issues of reintegration of former combatants into Afghan civil society and long-
term reconciliation with the Taliban has fuelled anxieties in the Indian establishment,
which views the Islamic radicals with suspicion.
The security situation in Afghanistan and India's role in reconstruction also can be
expected to come up for discussion when the two meet.
The year ahead is likely to see new beginnings and endings in Afghanistan, particularly
as Mr Karzai pursues a domestic agenda and the international community takes
tentative steps towards disengagement from .
The Jirga (council) of tribal, regional and political representatives will meet soon after Mr
Karzai returns from an official visit to the US in May, to try to forge a consensus on talks
with insurgents to end the nearly a decade-long conflict.
It will be followed by the July 20 conference in Kabul, which will take stock of the
progress made since the last conference was held on January 28 in London.
The second trilateral meeting between and among the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan is
expected to be held later this year ahead of the Afghan parliamentary elections in
September.
India and the US may not see eye to eye on Afghanistan, but in recent weeks President
Barack Obama has made efforts to seek New Delhi out for coordinating their approaches
to stabilise the situation there.
Obama has asked his envoy in New Delhi, Timothy Roemer, to travel to Kabul and
explore the opportunities for partnering India in people-oriented projects in Afghanistan
in areas such as education, health, agriculture and infrastructure.
However, India's offer of training larger numbers of Afghan military personnel does not
seem to have many takers in the Obama administration. Washington's main worry is
that if India's involvement in military training escalates, Pakistan could clamour for a
similar role, and that would open a Pandora's Box of unforeseen problems.
Dates to watch out for:
May 10 Karzai to visit the US
May 20 Peace Jirga of tribal, regional and political representatives will meet to reach a
consensus on talks with insurgents to end the conflict
June first week Foreign envoys posted to Afghanistan will meet in Madrid
July 20 Afghan Conference in Kabul (follow-up to the January 28 conference in London)
Between July and September US-Pakistan-Afghanistan trilateral meeting
September Afghan parliamentary election
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