A new dramatic development has taken place in Afghanistan. Afghan president Hamid Karzai has revealed to an Indian daily that his country will like India’s inclusion in its trade and transit agreement with Pakistan which is in force since 2011.It will allow India to use Pakistan’s territory to trade with Afghanistan. Karzai’s government had been seeking it for a long time but it was not possible because of the estrangement between India and Pakistan on various issues, especially cross border terrorism. Karzai feels that there has been an overall improvement in the environment between India and Pakistan which Afghanistan invites heartily. He thinks his country will benefit a lot if the participation of India in its trade pact with Pakistan takes place. It will bring huge cost efficiency in trade with India. Kabul welcomes amity between Delhi and Islamabad in its own interest.
Karzai has invited Indian businessmen to invest in various fields such as minerals, petroleum and gas. He said India need not be chary of investing in its country since security issues are not a hurdle to business. According to him, no business has been hampered or slowed down by lack of security. Nor should the Chinese role in Afghan- Pakistan trade and its investment in copper mines in his country be a deterrent to Indian investment in Afghanistan. The improvement in trade between the three countries will beef up Afghanistan’s economy without a doubt. However, while Karzai’s intentions are good, certain obstacles cannot be wished away. Cooperation between India, Pakistan and China is welcome but cannot be banked upon. And overhanging it is the shadow of the Taliban menace which might lengthen with US pull-out of troops in 2014.