Round The World

New Delhi, 11 January 2011

Krishna’s Afghan Visit

REASSESSING INDIA’s POLICY

By Monish Tourangbam

Research Scholar, School of International Studies (JNU)

Indian policy-makers have much bigger ambitions of the country’s extending influence than what foreign Governments are normally willing to identify with.  As major powers increasingly try to understand New Delhi’s world-view, our policy-makers also need to introspect their strategic moves on a regular basis and place their current policies in the context of their longer vision for regional and international influence.

In the 21^st century, India has left behind what was controversially perceived as the “Hindu Rate of Growth” and the coming years will see the country as one of the prime movers of international growth. As it does not think that its maneouvers and objectives can be cocooned anymore in the South Asian region alone. Though mindful and concerned as any country is of the immediate neighbourhood, New Delhi’s concerns are not limited to only dealing with problematic Pakistan, but extends much beyond, evident in its ‘Look East Policy’ and its concern for the safety and security of the Indian Ocean region.

Importantly, India’s policy towards Afghanistan needs to be understood in the context of this quest for a place to commensurate with the country’s growing economic and political power underscored by Foreign Minister S.M Krishna’s first outgoing visit earlier this month. The visit was against the backdrop of New Delhi’s concern regarding the role Pakistan plays and will undoubtedly play in the future.  Notwithstanding, that India which has pledged $1.3 billion for reconstruction activities has suffered many casualties.

Prior to his departure to Kabul, asserted Krishna, "Our embassy and four consulates are under constant threat. We are working with the Afghan Government to ensure that they give our embassy and consulates enough protection.” Expectedly, the Afghan government assured full security to India’s interests. Besides its embassy in Kabul, India has consulates in Jalalabad, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat, proof of the intent to increase its footprints in Afghanistan beyond Kabul’s politics.

Needless to say, India’s activities in Afghanistan is a part of the international effort and nothing in it suggests that it wants to cross the boundaries of a responsible country out to assist in securing and stabilizing its own extended neighborhood. And no tenet of international law should have any problem with a country trying to preserve its own interest in a volatile situation, the fallout of which is going to have major repercussions for the region and beyond.

Clearly, India’s concerns for the future of Afghanistan and its stability demands more attention, with NATO countries including the US already having come up with time-lines to start a phased withdrawal from the region. Indeed, New Delhi has time and again reiterated that India will continue to provide assistance to the Afghan Government and its people as long as the elected Government wants it. This message was again reiterated during Krishna’s visit.

Further, India made plain that the process of bringing peace and stability to the war-torn country should not be externally-driven (read Pakistan), rather it should be controlled and led by the Afghan people. “Any external interference in the re-integration process would be detrimental to its success and for the future of democratic, stable, pluralistic and prosperous Afghanistan,” said Krishna. He was reassured by his Afghan counterpart Zalmay Rasool, that the peace process would not succeed without being led by the Afghan people and that the process was fully controlled by it.

This is not all. The Afghan President Hamid Karzai assured Krishna that his Government would not make any move that was detrimental to New Delhi's interest. India has been hugely concerned with the grand idea of winning over moderate sections of the Taliban into Afghanistan’s mainstream politics. Particularly, as some sections of the Pakistani Establishment have maintained ties with various factions of the Taliban. New Delhi is wary that Islamabad might play a sinister and a much bigger role than otherwise warranted in the process.

True, President Karzai maintains friendly relationships with India but the predicament of his Administration in the midst of this protracted conflict with a Taliban definitely presents serious impediments to any sound policy engineering. According to sources, the former President, Burhanuddin Rabbani, who recently led an Afghan delegation to Pakistan to hold discussions over the peace process, briefed Krishna on the outcome of his visit to Islamabad.

During the Afghan delegation's meetings with top Pakistani leadership, the two countries decided to set up a high-power Joint Consultative Commission to take forward the peace process in Afghanistan. During his stay, Krishna also reiterated India's position that re-integration could only happen of those who abjured violence, snapped their links with terror outfits and abided by Afghanistan’s Constitution.

A slew of developmental projects were also discussed including the much touted Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. According to sources, India announced the establishment of a course in Pashto and Dari languages at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, something very crucial in better understanding the finer nuances of the country, which can only come through young Indians knowledge of major Afghan languages.

The US, the craftsman of the Af-Pak strategy needs to be more acquainted with the kind of threat that certain Establishments in Pakistan, namely the military and its intelligence presents to India’s security. Despite the kind of assistance that New Delhi has provided to Kabul over the years, the former’s objectives and intent has often been questioned in certain quarters. The importance that is accorded to Pakistan in the whole equation has often forced India to take a backseat, which is detrimental to the longer vision of security in the region.

Significantly, India which has and continues to bear the brunt of anti-India terrorism from across the border, the threat is ever imminent. The years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan with increased leverage of Pakistanis was an uneasy period for India which makes New Delhi wary of the shape of things to come in Afghanistan.

In fact, Pakistan is always going to be a major player in any settlement in Afghanistan and this is well known to the Americans, Indians and the Afghans. So, whatever moves New Delhi makes; whatever policy it settles for, should be done with the understanding of the core issue. The question is not how India maneuvers Pakistan out, but the real challenge is how New Delhi maneuovers amid the pivotal role Islamabad is going to play in Afghanistan.

The Americans while courting emerging power India in its long-term foreign policy vision, at the same time cannot help but work with Pakistan for fashioning a manageable power arrangement in Afghanistan, with Taliban’s power at least severely depleted if not defeated. Undoubtedly New Delhi needs to take advantage of its burgeoning ties Washington to try and put across India’s predicament in the region and the critical concerns that drive its Afghan policy. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)