By Harsh V. Pant
India is playing hardball with Afghanistan over Ashraf Ghani’s misadventures with Pakistan.
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.
This shift comes at a time when regional realities in South Asia are becoming stranger by the day. Pakistan continues to insist that it is still ready to facilitate the revival of stalled peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Pakistani National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani last week to “restore trust and confidence between the two countries,” but it is unlikely to placate the growing anti-Pakistan sentiment in Afghanistan.
Read the full story at The Diplomat