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http://www.timesofindia.com/india/I...f-Pak-strategic-pact/articleshow/18338160.cms
NEW DELHI: India is taking a dim
view of British efforts to push
through a strategic partnership
agreement between Afghanistan
and Pakistan as British PM David
Cameron played host to Asif Ali Zardari and Hamid Karzai at his
country residence, Chequers. India's peeve stems from its firm
belief that the UK is looking at the
Afghanistan issue from a
Pakistani point of view, without involving countries like India into it. Cameron
announced on Monday that Afghanistan and
Pakistan would sign a strategic partnership
agreement by this autumn. As Cameron prepares
to visit here later this year, this issue is expected
to feature in high-level discussions with the Indian leadership. India also remains deeply skeptical of British
interests and intentions in this region. While India
and the US have now established deep contacts
on their activities in Afghanistan, including a
trilateral format dialogue with Afghanistan, New
Delhi has no such interaction with London on an issue that affects Indian interests deeply. This has led to greater suspicion of the UK's
activities particularly because they seem to be
placing Pakistan at the centre of a peace deal,
when Islamabad remains one of the prime
sponsors of the Taliban. Senior Taliban leaders are
given safe haven by Pakistan, and any peace resolution in Afghanistan includes bringing the
Taliban into the power structure in Kabul. This has obviously found resonance in London.
Indian and US officials say British interlocutors
had a big role in the drafting of the five-point
peace process roadmap for Afghanistan which
again places Pakistan front and centre of any
deal. Sources here said Karzai has expressed apprehension with any such plan, but his
vulnerability next year is leading him to clutch at
straws, including Pakistan, despite being
painfully aware of the Taliban influence. India worries that British intervention could
result in a hastily-cobbled deal between
Afghanistan and Pakistan, which would give the
NATO powers a fig leaf for their departure from
Afghanistan. But a poorly crafted peace resolution, with exit as
the goal, may not be the best thing for a post-exit
peace. For many Indians the memories of 1947,
and the British departure from the sub-continent
leaving behind unbridled blood-letting has
deepened skepticism of the British initiative.
NEW DELHI: India is taking a dim
view of British efforts to push
through a strategic partnership
agreement between Afghanistan
and Pakistan as British PM David
Cameron played host to Asif Ali Zardari and Hamid Karzai at his
country residence, Chequers. India's peeve stems from its firm
belief that the UK is looking at the
Afghanistan issue from a
Pakistani point of view, without involving countries like India into it. Cameron
announced on Monday that Afghanistan and
Pakistan would sign a strategic partnership
agreement by this autumn. As Cameron prepares
to visit here later this year, this issue is expected
to feature in high-level discussions with the Indian leadership. India also remains deeply skeptical of British
interests and intentions in this region. While India
and the US have now established deep contacts
on their activities in Afghanistan, including a
trilateral format dialogue with Afghanistan, New
Delhi has no such interaction with London on an issue that affects Indian interests deeply. This has led to greater suspicion of the UK's
activities particularly because they seem to be
placing Pakistan at the centre of a peace deal,
when Islamabad remains one of the prime
sponsors of the Taliban. Senior Taliban leaders are
given safe haven by Pakistan, and any peace resolution in Afghanistan includes bringing the
Taliban into the power structure in Kabul. This has obviously found resonance in London.
Indian and US officials say British interlocutors
had a big role in the drafting of the five-point
peace process roadmap for Afghanistan which
again places Pakistan front and centre of any
deal. Sources here said Karzai has expressed apprehension with any such plan, but his
vulnerability next year is leading him to clutch at
straws, including Pakistan, despite being
painfully aware of the Taliban influence. India worries that British intervention could
result in a hastily-cobbled deal between
Afghanistan and Pakistan, which would give the
NATO powers a fig leaf for their departure from
Afghanistan. But a poorly crafted peace resolution, with exit as
the goal, may not be the best thing for a post-exit
peace. For many Indians the memories of 1947,
and the British departure from the sub-continent
leaving behind unbridled blood-letting has
deepened skepticism of the British initiative.