pakistani342
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Article by Harsh V Pant here, excerpts below:
The sixth Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan was held in Kabul last week. The purpose of this two-day summit was to examine the challenges of rebuilding Afghanistan after years of conflict. Even with representatives from 30 countries and 40 international organizations in attendance, India was conspicuous by its rather low-profile representation. Instead of a ministerial presence, New Delhi decided to send a junior bureaucrat to the conference.
Though India’s ambassador to Afghanistan has rejected suggestions that New Delhi is heading for a strategic shift in relations with Kabul, India’s decision not to revive the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed in 2011 is being viewed as a sign of New Delhi’s displeasure over the Afghan unity government’s outreach to Pakistan at the cost of Indian interests.
...
The silence over Mullah Omar’s death for years and now its inability to control the shenanigans within the Taliban has once again exposed the hollowness of Pakistani claims of being an honest broker in bringing the Taliban and the Afghan government together. As Ghani’s disillusion with Pakistan sets in, New Delhi is probably making it clear that while it has equities to preserve in Afghanistan, it is in no particular hurry to come to Ghani’s rescue. The Modi government is different from its predecessors in that it seems more than willing to play hard ball with its foreign policy. If Ghani has been lukewarm to India so far, the Modi government too seems to have decided that it will now take its own time to warm up to the new Ghani, who seems to be belatedly counting the costs of his Pakistan tilt.
The sixth Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan was held in Kabul last week. The purpose of this two-day summit was to examine the challenges of rebuilding Afghanistan after years of conflict. Even with representatives from 30 countries and 40 international organizations in attendance, India was conspicuous by its rather low-profile representation. Instead of a ministerial presence, New Delhi decided to send a junior bureaucrat to the conference.
Though India’s ambassador to Afghanistan has rejected suggestions that New Delhi is heading for a strategic shift in relations with Kabul, India’s decision not to revive the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed in 2011 is being viewed as a sign of New Delhi’s displeasure over the Afghan unity government’s outreach to Pakistan at the cost of Indian interests.
...
The silence over Mullah Omar’s death for years and now its inability to control the shenanigans within the Taliban has once again exposed the hollowness of Pakistani claims of being an honest broker in bringing the Taliban and the Afghan government together. As Ghani’s disillusion with Pakistan sets in, New Delhi is probably making it clear that while it has equities to preserve in Afghanistan, it is in no particular hurry to come to Ghani’s rescue. The Modi government is different from its predecessors in that it seems more than willing to play hard ball with its foreign policy. If Ghani has been lukewarm to India so far, the Modi government too seems to have decided that it will now take its own time to warm up to the new Ghani, who seems to be belatedly counting the costs of his Pakistan tilt.