Pakistan is blocking the establishment of a regional monitoring group to oversee cooperation on Afghanistan’s economic and security future, Indian media reported on Sunday.
As leaders from 12 nations head to Istanbul on November 2 to help Afghanistan become a stable and independent state, Pakistan is building up opposition to the key decisions at the conference, a report aired on Times Now said. Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna will represent India at the conference, the first time India will be at the table. Last year, Pakistan had successfully weighed in with its close ally and host, Turkey, to keep India out. Turkish President Abdullah Gul bore the brunt of New Delhi’s unhappiness when he visited India soon after.
According to the report, Pakistan has cited “national security”, maintaining its old position that it needed to have a “friendly” government in Kabul as a defence against India while Pakistan’s opposition is to having so many countries – primarily India – enjoy a similar status in the contact group on Afghanistan. “The US, Pakistan’s principal backer, has decisively turned away from accepting Islamabad’s arguments. Turkey, Pakistan’s close friend and mentor, too is pushing the regional framework that includes all of Afghanistan’s neighbours.
Hillary Clinton, who will represent the US at the conference, will push the New Silk Road concept that is aimed at helping Afghanistan to its feet, and one that includes all its neighbours. This too has seen opposition from the Pakistani army,” it said. The report stated that Pakistan was trying to marshal support from an unlikely group of countries that may have implications for India.
Iran, which is opposed to the idea of US military presence in Afghanistan, has been seen to be supporting the Pakistani position, even though Tehran detests the Taliban and the al Qaeda. Another curious fellow opponent is Russia. Moscow is worried about a Talibanised Afghanistan, but it is equally sceptical of a continued US presence there.
