ISLAMABAD: The United States and India believe that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif can succeed in improving relations with both New Delhi and Kabul, says a senior US official.
And the United States wants Sharif to have “a fair chance of being able to do so”, said US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, James Dobbins.
Pakistan, its role in Afghanistan and its relations with India were discussed thoroughly at a congressional hearing - ‘Afghanistan 2014: Year of Transition’ - on Wednesday afternoon.
Congressman Ed Royce brought the Pakistan element into the debate in his opening remarks, claiming Pakistan’s military and security service continue to complicate matters by supporting the Taliban. “Pakistan is a double-dealer, paying lip service to cooperation with the US while simultaneously undermining our primary objective of bringing Afghanistan under the control of a democratically elected government,” he said.
Congressman Ami Bera, a democrat of Indian origin, highlighted Indian concern that once the US withdrew from Afghanistan, “hardened, trained jihadi fighters will start shifting over to the Indian-Pakistan border.” “Probably the greatest contribution India could make and Pakistan can make in Afghanistan is improving their bilateral relationship,” said Dobbins, while responding to Bera’s remarks.
This will have two effects: It will greatly increase the access of Afghan trade to India via Pakistan and will reduce the ‘highly destabilising’ competition between the two countries for influence in Afghanistan, he said.
“So we’ve been encouraging both Pakistan and India to overcome their differences in Kashmir, their differences over Afghanistan.”
Ambassador Dobbins assured India that there was no near-term danger of foreign fighters shifting from Afghanistan to the Indian border. “But the Indian concerns are legitimate and it’s something that we do need to be careful about,” he said.
INTERNEWS
