Afghanistan comes under shadow of India-Pakistan verbal hostilities
War of words over Kabul’s request for transit route to India through Wagah
Afghanistan is caught in the hostility of rhetoric between India and Pakistan. India has so far maintained its silence on PM Narendra Modi’s participation in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in Islamabad in November.
Pakistan has adopted a similar strategy on the issue of its participation in a regional ministerial meeting on Afghanistan that India will host in December.
India’s external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj attended the Heart of Asia ministerial meeting on Afghanistan in Islamabad last December. At that time, Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif was keen on Swaraj’s participation. But the recent chill in the India-Pakistan ties has now cast a shadow over meetings of regional groupings.
“India will host the heart of Asia ministerial conference in December. It was also a point of discussion between Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani and PM Modi when they met this week. We are hopeful of every country in the grouping attending the meet,” said an external affairs ministry official.
“I wish to point out that the external affairs minister attending the meet last year showed that every effort for (creating) a stable and peaceful Afghanistan (sic) is a top priority for India,” he said.
The ongoing rhetoric of hostility between India and Pakistan has also come in the way of the transit route Afghanistan is seeking through Pakistan and India.
In December, India had placed a transit request with Pakistan, in which it wanted to send 1.75 lakh tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan. Pakistan has still not given its approval. Ghani’s growing disillusionment with Pakistan is becoming evident. Afghanistan has been questioning Pakistan’s lack of sincerity in talks with the Taliban or reining in terror groups that target Afghanistan.
THE RECENT CHILL IN THE INDIA-PAKISTAN TIES HAS NOW CAST A SHADOW OVER MEETINGS OF REGIONAL GROUPINGS