U.S. keen on India playing benign role in Afghanistan

U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke arrived here on Wednesday and exchanged with National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon views on stabilising Afghanistan.

On a multination tour that has covered England, Germany, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mr. Holbrooke will met Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Thursday to continue discussions on the West's perception of the end-game in Afghanistan. All interested parties have been engaged in hectic consultations and his India visit is part of the attempt to find a meeting ground for the diverse players in ensuring stability in Afghanistan.

The U.S. is keen on ensuring that India plays a benign role in Afghanistan at a time when it is going to begin a conditions-based appraisal to assess whether the International Security Assistance Force can hand over control to Afghans in certain parts of the country. Washington believes that it is now at the stage of implementing the Obama Administration's strategy after 18 months of ground work.

Reconstruction work

The confabulations are taking place just after the conference on Afghanistan, which saw the international community deliberating on timelines for the reconstruction work.

Of great interest to India is the plan to reintegrate insurgents who are ready for peace following the jirga organised by President Hamid Karzai and Track II confabulations with certain militants of long standing. External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna spelt out India's position at the conference, where he sought open, inclusive and transparent negotiations with only those militant groups which renounced violence and the Al-Qaeda, and agreed to abide by the Afghan Constitution.

Mr. Holbrooke is the latest U.S. official to underline the importance of India's role in Afghanistan for “historic and strategic reasons” when he held a news conference in Kabul on Tuesday. He also welcomed India-Pakistan talks. “Anything that reduces tensions and increases confidence and understanding between Pakistan and India is something we would encourage and support.”