Does the US consider India relevant in Afghanistan?

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. From press reports, it is evident that her only topic of discussion was “Pakisan“. She seemed to have visited every executive branch member she could get hold off, and then went to the US Congress to try to get some sort of Anti-Pakistan legislation passed in Congress–some sort of Pressler Amendment would hamper US efforts to bring peace to Afghansitan and facilitate the exit of US and NATO forces.

Crescent and Star over Mountain Couldron
‘Your country is located on the other side of the world so what are you doing here?’ Ahmadinejad
http://thedawn.com.pk/2010/03/18/us-pakistan-strategic-dialogue-a-new-beginning-or-a-lot-of-jaw-jaw/
India in Afghanistan doesn’t serve US interests

Ms. Rao could have addressed US-Bharati issues, but it seems her visit was made to thwart the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue.

India’s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao followed up her warning to Islamabad to stop terrorism by holding a string of meetings with top US officials where she discussed last month’s meeting with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir and the unravelling situation in Afghanistan…The meeting ended without a breakthrough, Sify News. 2010-03-17 12:20:00

Clearly out of touch with the new realities, Bharat made itself more irrelevent in Washington by trying to reiterate positions that have been rejected by the 62 countries at the London Conference

Rao stressed that Afghanistan presented the foremost security challenge in the region and she ‘reiterated India’s long held position that it was important for the international community to stay the present course in Afghanistan for as long as it is necessary‘. Sify News. 2010-03-17 12:20:00

Unable to get real hearing in the executive branch–Ms. Rao met the biggest friend in Washington–Gary Ackerman, who headed up the recent Congressional hearing on the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and unsuccessfully tried to raise that bogey, and Senator Lieberman. Mr. Lieberman, an Orthodox Jews is an independent funded by various Bharati organizations–he does not have a lot of influence with the Democrats and the Republicans. Gary Ackerman and Senator Menendez from New Jersey are the most rabid Pakistanphobes in Congress. They will try some tactic to change the course of history. It usually starts by hiring a battery of authors who begin spouting venom against Pakistan. That vitriol is then picked up by the think tanks and the popular media. The crescendo is then built up–to put Pakistan and Pakistanis on the defensive.

Ms. Rao must have activated the lobbies to go into action.

Rao has also met Under Secretary for Policy in the Department of Defence Michelle Flournoy, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Robert Hormats and Under Secretary of State for Democracy Global Affairs Maria Otero.

Besides, she met House of Representatives’ Democrat member Gary Ackerman and Independent senator Joseph Lieberman. She attended a separate breakfast meeting to interact with experts from prominent Washington think tanks. Sify News

While Ms. Rao repeatedly said that Delhi was still relevant in Kabul–no American or Afghan leader substantiated that claim.

“The United States fully recognizes that India has legitimate interests in Afghanistan. It appreciates the development work we do there,” Rao told PTI here.

“It appreciates that we are force of stability and moderation in our region. We are not scaling down in Afghanistan,” PTI and Times of India.

One of the biggest hurdles in the US-Bharati relationship is the non-operationalization of the 123-Nuclear deal which languishes on a backburner in Washington.

There were other unresolved issues. Rao’s engagement was also partly torpedoed by the withdrawal by the government of the nuclear liability bill in Parliament hours after her arrival here. As a result, there was little progress on tying up loose ends of the civilian nuclear deal including an agreement on reprocessing although there were brave words about the deal being on track and on schedule. Chidanand Rajghatta

Bharati companies are still on the export control list. Delhi is struggling to get them removed without much luck.

Most notably, on the issue of high-tech cooperation, the Indian side was still pleading for removal of some its organizations from the so-called Entities List, seven years after the establishment of the group. “The Indian side requested the US department of commerce to review US export controls applicable to India and update them to bring them in keeping with the changed political realities that contextualize India-US strategic partnership today,” the concluding statement said…But on the Af-Pak issue, India is clearly out of the loop. Pakistan is again the new game in town. Chidanand Rajghatta

Rao’s Pakistan obsession was self evident after her statements in the US.

The United States says engaged as it is in a common struggle with Pakistan and India against terrorism, it’s encouraging all-round cooperation through strategic dialogues with the two South Asian neighbours.

“We have a very rich, strategic dialogue with India,” State Department Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Wednesday when asked about what the visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao discussed with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her counterpart Undersecretary of State Bill Burns on Tuesday. Siffy News

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Seema Mustafa correctly identifies the fact that Kabul, in fact all of Afghanistan is inhospitable for Bharatis.

It is apparent from the few leaked stories that are now appearing in the media that national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon returned from his visit to Kabul with the distinct impression that Indians there are no longer secure. The government seems to be seriously contemplating reducing the strength of missions in Kabul, and recalling soft targets like doctors and others. It is clear that the decision to send paramilitary forces for the protection of Indians in Afghanistan is not a foolproof arrangement against suicide bombers, and the issue of security will remain wide open.

Like Rajghatta Seema Mustafa laments about Washington, about Mr. Karzai, and about the failure of Bharati policies.

Pakistan has been urging the US to put pressure on India so that it closes its consulates in Afghanistan and curtails its presence in that country. New Delhi refused to succumb to the pressure but clearly now the threat of violence and the lukewarm response of the Karzai government is forcing a decision that does not serve Indian interests in the long run. But the choice is difficult and the government cannot be blamed for whittling down its presence in the violence torn country. Seema Mustafa

The failure of the talks in Washington was evident after Ms Rao tried hide the agenda

The official, however, could not say what specific issues were discussed between Rao, Clinton and Burns. When reminded that before coming to the State Department, Rao had delivered a blunt warning to Pakistan to stop terrorism targeted against India, Toner again didn’t have a specific readout.

“I can certainly imagine that they did talk about dialogue between Pakistan and India, and better cooperation,” he said. “And of course we’re encouraging cooperation on all levels. And we’re engaged in strategic dialogues to that end.” Siffy News

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Indian Monkey Business called diplomacy

The malaise in the Bharati foreign policy is evident for all to see. Every analyst worth his or her salt can see the failure. Ms. Mustafa simply consecrates the obvious. Ambassador Bhadrakumar says the same—Delhi lacks the self correcting mechanism to pull itself out of the hole it has dug itself into.

New Delhi seems to be bereft of strategy as the visit of Menon to Kabul suggests. His agenda should have been to get Karzai back on track but clearly he either did not even venture into this territory but this is hard to believe, or he just did not meet with any success. The last seems more likely as Karzai who was always vocal in criticising Pakistan, is now Islamabad’s friend and has moved quite a distance away from India.

The result of what could well be a complete diplomatic misadventure is that India will have a Taliban government sitting in Kabul … The question is not of a good or bad Taliban as everyone knows it is of a pliable and rigid Taliban. And the bad might be present in large numbers in the ‘pliable’ that Pakistan is trying to get to form a government in Kabul. The choices before India are now very few, as the strategists in government should have seen this coming but obviously were too arrogant or blind to sense it. Instead of opening all links with the remnants of the Northern Alliance, the war lords and even sections of the Taliban, Indian foreign policy focused for several years only on the nuclear deal with the US, and the dialogue with Pakistan. Afghanistan was handled in a totally kick jerk fashion and now that New Delhi is waking up to the reality it finds itself pretty much on the periphery with insignificant say in developments in the region. Seema Mustafa

Bharati diplomats are in a panic and don’t know how to deal with the new realities in South Asia.

Asked why Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robert Blake was visiting Pakistan and Afghanistan along with India when Af-Pak region was the domain of US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, the official said they had different roles.

Being the special envoy Holbrooke had visited the region eight, nine times as “that’s proper and right that he would do so,” Toner said. “But that said, Assistant Secretary Blake is obviously engaged in that issue as well.”
“Blake, I think, is just also trying to get a sense of what’s going on the ground so Siffy News

Seema Mustafa has written a prodigiously effulgent article on the malaise of that Bharat (aka India) finds itself in. She writes of Buzz Express–and Indian news outlet. She clearly identifies the reasons for Delhi’s failure and provides a few pointers on new directions in Bharati foreign policy.

Pakistan is America’s strategic ally for Afghanistan to the point where India has been isolated. India, however, continues to strive to hold on to its few assets in Afghanistan in a bid to foil Islamabad’s plans to control Kabul, politically and strategically if and when the Americans manage to execute their exit policy. The attack on the guesthouse in Kabul that is a favourite with visiting Indians was a clear indication that their safety and security is now at high risk. And that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is not just incapable but also unwilling to ensure that all Indians working and living in Kabul are given adequate protection.

Filed under: Afghanistan, Current Affairs, India CA, Pak CA, US CA, US Int Rel., US Poli Tagged: Afghanistan, India