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Washington:
The United States has welcomed the strategic partnership agreement
between India and Afghanistan, but said it was not looking for any
mediatory role for New Delhi in the peace process in Afghanistan.
Washington considered the US-Pakistan-Afghanistan trilateral talks
structure of value and favoured its continuance, State Department
spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters Tuesday when asked if
the US saw any role for India in the reconciliation process in
Afghanistan.
Referring to reports about a strategic partnership between India
and Afghanistan and India's likely participation in the New Silk
Road Initiative, she said: "Those are both things that we very
much welcome."
"With regard to playing a mediating role, I don't think that's
what we're looking for here," Nuland said. "We do believe this
trilateral structure is of value and we should continue it."
Washington also supported "any and all warming between Pakistan
and India", Nuland said. "We've been strong supporters of the
dialogues that the two governments have been having."
Asked if India had asked the US to help bring to justice
perpetrators of the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in
Pakistan and D-company head Dawood Ibrahim, she said: "Well, I
think now that India and Pakistan have renewed their bilateral
talks, I would expect that this is a subject between them."
On reports that Pakistan had announced plans to hold a dialogue
for reconciliation with all terrorist organisations, all Taliban
factions, including Haqqani Network, on the Pakistani side, Nuland
said: "Our position on reconciliation is that if you're going to
reconcile, you've got to meet these criteria."
"Our hope would be that those are the same criteria that would be
expected in this instance. But if there's a chance to make those
clearer, that's a good thing," she added.
The key conditions set by the Obama administration for Taliban
leaders seeking reconciliation with Kabul are a pledge to stop
fighting, to end support for Al Qaeda, and to abide by the Afghan
constitution.
(Arun Kumar can be
contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
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