The suggestion reportedly mooted by New Delhi to include Afghanistan as a separate issue in the forthcoming bilateral talks would only complicate an already arduous task. No doubt there are suspicions between Islamabad and New Delhi over what the other side is doing in Afghanistan. But these are, in fact, an offshoot of the differences over a number of other issues. What is needed, therefore, is to first address the issues on the agenda of the erstwhile composite dialogue stalled after the Mumbai attacks.
This is not to underestimate the need to develop a regional understanding. Central Asia is a big market for finished goods produced in South Asia. It is also a potential source of energy badly needed by the industrial sectors of Pakistan and India. The road to Central Asia lies through Afghanistan. It is, therefore, of great importance for Kabul, Islamabad and New Delhi to work together. Unless they decide to cooperate, they would be wantonly shutting a window of opportunity. As things stand, Pakistan suspects that the Indian consulates in Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad, and Kandahar are providing cover for Indian intelligence agencies to run covert operations against Pakistan and foment separatism in Balochistan. Pakistan’s fears of encirclement by India have been compounded by the new Indian air base in Farkhor in Tajikistan. The presence of Indias mountain-trained paramilitary force and about 500 police, deployed presumably for the protection of Indias nearly 4000 workers involved in various projects, is also seen by Islamabad as a part of the move at encirclement. Pakistan also considers $1.2 billion of Indian aid given to Afghanistan since 2001 as an attempt to buy influence in Afghanistan to harm Pakistan.
The differences over Afghanistan are as old as the enmity between Pakistan and India. What is badly needed by Islamabad and New Delhi is to bury the hatchet and divert a good part of their resources being wasted on rivalry to social and economic development. Once the issues currently on the Pak-India agenda are resolved, a period of friendship and cooperation will ensue and a context would be created for cooperation in Afghanistan and Central Asia.
