Round The World
New Delhi, 11 October 2011
India-Afghan Partnership
TARGETTING PAK INFLUENCE?
By Monish Tourangbam
Research Scholar, School
of International Studies (JNU)
India and Afghanistan have given official signatures to
their Strategic Partnership, putting Pakistan on the back-foot. Even as
President Hamid Karzai visited New Delhi
praising India’s
humanitarian role in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan, US officials as well as those in Kabul continued to accuse
sections of the Pakistani establishment for their deleterious role in the fight
against terrorism.
While top officials in the US
pointed to links between Pakistan’s
military intelligence and the Haqqani network, those in Kabul
investigating the assassination of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, the head of the Afghan High Peace Council are
upset over the lack of cooperation from Islamabad.
At the same time, however, all sides involved in Afghanistan are well aware that safeguarding the
future of the country needs active support from Islamabad. Pakistan is an inevitable player in
the game. Therefore, while Karzai signed high-level deals with New Delhi, he sought to emphasize that the
strategic partnership was not directed against any other State or group of
States. In a bid to reassure, President Karzai stated: “Pakistan is a twin brother, India is a
great friend. The agreement that we signed yesterday with our friend will not
affect our brother.”
Undeniably, there is a power game unfolding in Afghanistan and as the western forces plan to
withdraw from the region, India
has to tie its boots and be relentless towards preserving its own security and
interests. Return to an Afghanistan
resembling the Taliban rule during the 1990s will not augur well for New Delhi’s interests.
While the presence of some sections of the Taliban in one
form or the other in the future of Afghan polity is foreseen, New
Delhi needs to ensure that the resultant mix of powers in Kabul is not detrimental
to its interests. For that, some sections of the Pakistan
establishment should be dissuaded from playing any substantial role in the
Afghan polity, and one needs to ensure that moderate elements of the Taliban
win the internal debate within Afghanistan.
The Afghan government needs to be constantly engaged, and so
far the scorecard has been fairly positive. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
visited Afghanistan in May,
soon after Osama Bin Laden was hunted down in Pakistan. This apart, India continues
to be one of the major aid donors to the war-torn country. Indeed, this
humanitarian role needs to be capitalized.
India has pledged about $2
billion since the 2001 US
led-invasion for projects ranging from the construction of highways to the
building of the Afghan parliament. The presence of a big economy such as India in the vicinity and the dividends that it
could yield for a resurgent Afghanistan
should be constantly emphasized.
Karzai’s return visit within a few months has been amply
rewarding for Indo-Afghan ties and the strategic partnership has envisioned a
higher form of relationship that is more comprehensive and ambitious for the
sake of both the countries’ future. Apparently, the Strategic Partnership would
be implemented under the framework of a Partnership Council, which will be
headed by both the Foreign Ministers. The Council will convene annual meetings
with existing dialogue mechanisms being a major part.
Moreover, establishment of a Strategic Dialogue was agreed
upon to provide a framework for cooperation in the area of national security.
The Dialogue will be led by NSAs (National Security advisors) and involve
regular consultations with the aim of intensifying mutual efforts towards
strengthening regional peace and security. Besides, effective economic linkages
were outlined, to help Afghanistan
emerge as a trade, transportation and energy hub connecting Central and South Asia and enabling free and more unfettered
transport and transit linkages.
To help steer the relationship forward, valuable educational
exchanges were put forth. Two memoranda of understanding were concluded in the Field of Development of Hydrocarbons and
Mineral Resources. Further, Afghanistan
categorically expressed support for reform and expansion of the United
Nations Security Council, including a permanent seat for India on
it.
Significantly, New
Delhi agreed to assist, as mutually determined, in the
training, equipping and capacity building programmes for Afghan National
Security Forces. In the event of withdrawal of western forces from Afghanistan,
the capability and efficiency of the Afghan forces will largely determine the
security of its State.
India, therefore, must give
utmost seriousness to this effort that will help create significant leverages
for it in the future. Importantly, the Manmohan Singh Government reiterated its
commitment to the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan and emphasized that
other countries should assist its people in helping them decide their own
future.
Watching the Afghan
conflict unfold over the years, one aspect among others has become amply clear,
i.e. this war cannot be won by force alone. So, even as the peace talks with
the Taliban produce no credible results as of now, there is no other viable
alternative to consultations and reconciliation.
Clearly, Afghanistan is
struggling to put up a semblance of normalcy and a functioning democracy. New Delhi has a huge
interest in seeing it develop as a secure nation with an inclusive democracy
that is palatable to all its diverse ethnic composition. Accordingly, India and
Afghanistan agreed to share and learn from each others' experience of the
values and institutions of democracy, including the sharing, distribution and
devolution of powers, relations between the Centre and States/Provinces,
electoral reforms etc.
As for the US, addressing the media in the White House,
President Barack Obama asked Pakistan
not to view India as its
“mortal enemy”, to shed its Afghan-India paranoia and to realise that a
“peaceful approach” towards New Delhi
would be in everybody's interests. This is so, because Islamabad
considers Afghanistan
its strategic backyard and has yielded enormous influence in its political
makeup.
Recall, Pakistan was used as a vital conduit during
the US-supported Mujahideen’s fight against the Soviets and following that was
instrumental in the growth of the Taliban as a force in Afghan socio-political
landscape. Now, with the western forces planning to withdraw from the Afghan
theatre, Islamabad would obviously seek to
increase its traction in the future of Kabul
and put in place groups closer to it. In this scenario, any move by India towards increasing its influence in Afghanistan, though largely humanitarian in
nature would irk Islamabad.
However, such a jaundiced
and parochial strategic view from Pakistan would be highly
detrimental for the entire region and would have major repercussions for the
international community, since the Af-Pak region is considered the epicentre of
international terrorism. In the final analysis, it is high time that the US, along with India
engage other major powers such as Russia
and China (Pakistan’s all-weather friend) to persuade Islamabad to work towards
a regional framework that aims at growth and development and not
destabilization. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and
Feature Allianced)
|