Kabul should address Pakistan’s concerns on India

* Former US diplomat says America should urge Kabul to take account of Islamabad’s sensitivities in dealing with IndiaWASHINGTON: Afghanistan should endeavour to address Pakistani concerns in dealing with India and the US and its allies should urge Kabul to officially accept the Durand Line as the border between the two South Asian neighbours, a former top State Department official Karl Inderfurth told a hearing.As part of suggestions on achieving stability in the region and tackling the problem of extremism in the long-term perspective, he emphasised that “a comprehensive settlement to secure Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan is long overdue and urgently required.”Inderfurth, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs from 1997 to 2001, told a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee that Pakistan’s help is vital in ensuring security along rugged Afghan border and favoured the appointment of a US special envoy to work with Afghanistan and Pakistan in tackling the issues.Kabul should show concern: “Washington should also urge the [Afghan President] Karzai government to take greater account of Islamabad’s sensitivities in dealing with India. Islamabad fears that the main function of Indian consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad is to stir trouble across the nearby border, especially to fan the flames of the anti-Islamabad insurgency in Balochistan. “Even though India continues to provide generous economic assistance to Afghanistan, Kabul would be wise to try to assuage Pakistani concerns.”He testified before the influential committee that a key to achieving the goal of a stable and peaceful Afghanistan is to improve relationship between Kabul and Islamabad.On countering cross-border infiltration, he said, it will require closer coordination and cooperation. The Trilateral Afghanistan-Pakistan-NATO Military Commission is an important mechanism in this regard. So is the strengthening of the US military presence along the Afghan side of the border, he said.The future stability of both Afghanistan and Pakistan depends on the development of an effective strategy to counter and uproot the Taliban and Al Qaeda hideouts along the border region, he said.But Ambassador Inderfurth warned against the notion of any large scale US intervention in the Tribal Areas, saying such move would not prove a lasting solution and would be disastrous. Instead, the diplomat argued closer cooperation between the two allies.“A more effective strategy involves working cooperatively with Pakistan’s military to integrate these areas into the Pakistani political system and, once they are secure, provide substantial assistance to build up the economy and social infrastructure. To make it easier for Islamabad to undertake costly reforms needed to integrate the Tribal Areas, the US, the World Bank and other donors should provide Pakistan with substantial additional economic assistance.”In their remarks at the hearing, experts and lawmakers underscored that Afghanistan must remain the central focus in the war on terror. Chairman Ike Skelton stressed, “We must once again make Afghanistan the central focus in the war against terrorism – our national security and Afghanistan’s future are at stake.” app