From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: Afghanistan-Pakistan-India are often described as a complicated circle because of continued violence disturbing as far as India’s North Eastern region whose insurgents have established links through the dreaded ISI and lately even Maoists.
This complex scenario was unveiled by the Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India Shaida M Abdali on the eve of President Hamid Karzai’s two day visit to India on Tuesday.
In less than a year the allied forces led by the United States will leave Afghanistan and everybody apprehends Taliban-ISI who is now down but not out will resurrect with double vigor unsettling all the three countries including India’s North East.
The troubled nation is also going to polls in 2014. Karzai, who studied in Himachal Pradesh is also a great survivor and has been at the helm of Kabul since 2004 though initially came to power for only some months.
During his bilateral talks with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, Karzai is likely to take up the security issue and assess how India could help beyond carrying out development projects and efforts to rebuild the Afghan economy, Abdali told members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of India in Afghanistan embassy.
Karzai’s visit also comes amidst a number of diplomatic developments in and around New Delhi — Nawaz Sharif has just taken over the reins of power in Pakistan; China’s new leadership is unfolding its future plans in the region and its Premier, Li Keqiang is arriving in New Delhi on two days before on his first-ever official visit after taking over.
Ambassador Abdali briefed the media on a wide range of issues relating to bilateral relations between Afghanistan and India, the progress the two countries have made under the Strategic Partnership Agreement, as well as the causes and sources of insecurity in Afghanistan, and how best India and Afghanistan should work, in partnership with the international community, to resolve them.
Abdali briefed media on the recent developments in Afghanistan, including the progress made by Afghanistan in the fields of education, public health, promotion of commerce, attracting foreign investment, etc. as well as on the ongoing transition process in the country.
He informed that the Afghan National Security Forces have successfully taken charge of security and are doing a “commendable” job because the people of Afghanistan are cooperative with their own National Security Forces.
He added that the transition process has economic, security and political aspects and each aspect is given equal attention as we move towards the completion of the transition process.
Ambassador Abdali also noted the importance of a supportive role of the international community post 2014 specially India.
He said that Afghanistan needs long term commitment from the international community and India in order to sustain the gains of the last years, beyond 2014.
The envoy expressed his gratitude for the massive Indian aid in various areas, including the thousands of scholarships provided by India to Afghanistan, he said that Afghanistan counts on Indian as a trusted and time tested friend of Afghanistan to play proactive role in matters pertaining to Afghanistan during the transition process and post 2014.
At the end Abadli stressed on the need of peace, progress and prosperity of the entire sub-continent comprising Afghanistan, India, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and even China next door neighbor of India’s North East.