Positive Implications of the Karzai Visit

The two-day visit to New Delhi of Afghan President Hamid Karzai (October 4-5, 2011) has been most productive—his discussions with PM Manmohan Singh were mutually beneficial punctuated as these were with wide convergence of interests and comprehension of the contemporary reality in the region; and the outcome was highly noteworthy with the two leaders concluding the first-ever Afghanistan-India strategic partnership agreement under which India has pledged to “assist, as mutually determined, in the training, equipping and capacity building programme of the Afghan National Security Forces” even as the document specifies that it was “not directed against any other state or group of states”. Obviously this clarification was intended to allay Islamabad’s fears and misgivings to the effect that Kabul and New Delhi were jointly forging a new anti-Pakistan arrangement. Karzai himself subse-quently took pains to characterise Pakistan as a “twin brother” of Afghanistan and declare that his nation’s strategic partnership with the “great friend” India “will not affect our brother”; he further explained that the two countries (India and Afghanistan) had only “put in words what we have been doing all these years”.

In a lecture in the Capital before winding up the visit, the Afghan President reaffirmed that the accord “is not directed against any other country”, adding: “This is for Afghanistan to benefit from the strength of India... so that it can train our police, doctors and students.”

The political importance of his pronouncements was quite transparent to the perceptive observer. He disclosed that the focus of his endeavours, directed at restoring peace in war-ravaged Afghanistan where the international forces fighting terror are all set to withdraw from 2014, would now be on talking to Pakistan, but in the same breath he lamented that engagement with Islamabad had “not yet received the result that we want”. In the wake of noted ambassador of peace and former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani’s assassination, he declared: “We have now decided not to talk to the Taliban because we don’t know their address... Therefore, we have decided to talk to our brothers, our neighbours, in Pakistan.”

On the previous day (October 4) neither Dr Manmohan Singh nor Hamid Karzai had made any pointed reference to Pakistan but what they said clearly alluded to that country’s activities in the region. After his meeting with Karzai Dr Singh observed: “The people of Afghanistan have suffered enough. They deserve to live in peace and decide their future themselves, without outside interference, coercion and intimidation.” And Karzai explicitly pointed out that “South Asia is facing dangers from terrorism and extremism used as an instrument of policy against innocent civilians”.

The Pakistani shadow over the summit-level Indo-Afghan talks was unmistakable. Yet the significance of what has been achieved—in the form of the strategic partnership agreement and the two MoUs signed with the purpose of helping Afghanistan develop hydrocarbons and mineral resources—should not be underestimated. These agreements are of immense value even if one overlooks the regional setting in which they have been finalised. However, the continuing bloodshed in the country, both due to indigenous factors and those having their origins outside the Afghan border, cannot possibly be ignored. It is against this backdrop that the partnership document has laid stress on establishing a “Strategic Dialogue” to give substance to a framework for cooperation in the sphere of national security involving “regular consultations with the aim of intensifying mutual efforts towards strengthening regional peace and security” so as to enhance the efforts to “fight international terrorism, organised crime, illegal trafficking in narcotics, money laundering and so on”.

Several other issues, evoking strong feelings among different sections of the people, have come to dominate the scene of late. These include the bitter controversy over the Planning Commission’s affidavit to the Supreme Court highlighting the provisional poverty line, as spelt out by the Tendulkar Committee, at Rs 32 per capita per day in the urban areas and Rs 26 per capita per day in the rural areas (that resulted in the Planning Commission’s “clarification”—while the Tendulkar Committee line will remain a reference point, the various welfare entitlements will depend on a socio-economic-caste census); the arrest of police officer Sanjiv Bhatt (already suspended and chargesheeted by the Gujarat administration) in Gandhinagar last week two days after his court affidavit linked senior functionaries of the Narendra Modi Government to BJP leader Haren Pandya’s murder—the detention being based on a constable’s allegation that he was forced by Bhatt to file a false affidavit against Modi; the strong plea by Anna Hazare to the people to inflict a “comprehensive defeat” on the ruling party at the Centre in the upcoming Assembly elections in five States in case the Centre fails to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament’s winter session. And now comes the striking information, furnished by none other than the Army Chief, that around 4000 Chinese construction personnel, including combat engineers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), are present in Pak-occupied Kashmir even as infiltration along the LoC in J&K has registered a sharp rise in recent days.

Nevertheless these developments, howsoever vital, cannot overshadow the positive implications of the Karzai visit to New Delhi that made a lasting contribution towards further strengthening the bonds of Indo-Afghan friendship and cooperation, and thereby reinforcing regional peace and stability.

October 6 S.C.