NEW DELHI, Jan 12: Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has told India about the difficulty Kabul could face if Pakistan was distracted from its campaign against the Taliban because of tensions with New Delhi, sources close to his talks here with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday.
On Saturday, Mr Karzai met US Vice-President-elect Joe Biden in Kabul for talks on Afghanistan’s reconstruction and the fight against militants.
The security situation in Afghanistan — and the fight against Taliban insurgents there -- is one of the incoming US administration’s foreign policy priorities. It is understood that Mr Karzai briefed Indian leaders about his talks with Mr Biden.
The Afghan president who arrived here on an overnight visit on Sunday expressed solidarity with the Indian people over the terror attacks in Mumbai in November and, together with Dr Singh, described terrorism as a threat to the entire humanity.
In a joint statement at the end of their talks, the two leaders urged Pakistan, though without naming it, to fulfil its international obligations to prevent terrorism in any manner.
According to the joint statement, the leaders “called for the full compliance with bilateral, multilateral and international obligations of states to prevent terrorism in any manner originating from territories under their control since terrorism emanates from the sanctuaries and training camps and the sustenance and support received by the terrorist groups”.
They also reviewed their “robust, strategic partnership” and were satisfied at the progress in bilateral development and reconstruction projects in all parts of Afghanistan.
The sources said although India’s tone had mellowed in its approach to Pakistan its objective to press Islamabad to comply more faithfully with its commitments to fight terrorism had not changed.
This approach was reflected in the description used by a top Indian army officer to the situation on the India-Pakistan border on Monday.
“I see no war cloud in the Indo-Pak border regions,” General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Army’s Central Command Lt-Gen J.K. Mohanty was quoted as saying in Bhubaneshwar.
He said India had always wanted friendly relations with its neighbours, but it was 200 per cent ready to deal with any situation if they crossed the limit.
When asked about the reported troop mobilisation by Pakistan after the Nov 26 strikes, Lt-Gen Mohanty said India was hardly bothered by the exercise.
In their talks, Dr Singh and Mr Karzai “reaffirmed the special relationship between India and Afghanistan, to build a strong, united and prosperous Afghanistan and to work towards peace, stability and development of the entire region”.
