|
US Special Representative for Afghanistan and
Pakistan (AfPak) Marc Grossman held talks Jan
20 with Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai that focused
on the prospects of reconciliation in Afghanistan
and India's developmental partnership with the
violence-beset country.
Besides Mathai, Grossman held talks with National
Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and India's
AfPak envoy Satinder K. Lambah.
"We reviewed the situation in Afghanistan
and I appreciated his desire to continue this
conversation between the United States and India
on this important subject," Grossman said
after talks with Mathai.
"We have made this trip in support of Afghan-led
and Afghan-owned reconciliation and so after New
Delhi this evening we are going to Kabul,"
Grossman said before he left for Kabul where he
will meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai and holds
wide-ranging discussions.
In his discussions, Mathai reiterated India's
support for an "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned"
reconciliation process and underlined the need
for red lines to be observed while bringing peace
and stability to Afghanistan. Mathai conveyed
to the US envoy the need for the international
community to stay engaged in Afghanistan, a point
that was made last month by External Affairs Minister
S.M. Krishna at the Bonn conference on Afghanistan's
future.
Warning against the dangers of abandoning Afghanistan,
India had exhorted the international community
to stay engaged for the long term to eliminate
"sanctuaries of terror" and pitched
for a Marshall Plan-like initiative to help rebuild
the violence-torn country.
India has pledged $2 billion for an array of
development projects in Afghanistan.
Underlining New Delhi's enduring commitment to
the rebuilding of Afghanistan, Krishna also warned
against terror emanating from across the border
-- an all-too obvious reference to Pakistan that
is suspected of fomenting instability with a view
to gaining strategic depth in that country at
India's expense.
Grossman said that the US would continue to reinforce
its conversation with Pakistan on the situation
in Afghanistan and called for reviving the trilateral
dialogue.
"What happens between Afghanistan and Pakistan
is extremely important. We encourage dialogue
between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We'd like again
to get into the meeting of the Core Group - Afghanistan,
Pakistan and the US -- because I think a conversation
about all these things is really necessary,"
he said.
Amidst the ongoing political turmoil in Pakistan,
Grossman stressed that the US backed the civilian
government and democracy there.
"We support the civilian government in Pakistan
and democracy in Pakistan," he said. "But
you know, this is a question for the Pakistanis,
this is an internal question for them. They have
their own ways of going forward and, so I wouldn't
comment any further on their internal developments,"
he said when asked to comment on the standoff
between the army and the civilian government in
Pakistan.
(IANS)
|
