US think-tanks are busy chalking out an Afghan exit strategy and undoubtedly the Afghan endgame has begun. The post-American scenario is of essence as a slight miscalculation may lead Afghanistan and South Asia to great troubles.

The present political standoff in Pakistan, recent bomb blasts in Mumbai and the murder of Ahmad Wali Karzai sketch the volatility of the region. Pakistan is the key state in this region and its internal democratic fiasco has only made matters worse for the US.

An abrupt cessation of aid has only added fuel to the fire and shows US stubbornness and detachment from the sentiments of the Pakistani public.

The US also seems oblivious of its historical negligence in the post - Soviet Afghanistan that a decade later haunted the world in the form of 9/11. I believe Kabul is in no position for a complete takeover of Afghanistan and Pakistan is in no position to counter terror without US economic and military aid. Without an economically, politically and militarily strong Pakistan, the US and its Indian watchdog can forget about a Taliban-free Afghanistan.

Pakistan should not be treated like a mercenary and its social and economic development should be the top priority for the West for a peaceful Afghanistan and thus a safer world.

DR MUHAMMAD AYAZ MOHSIN Karachi