US, India Closely Watching Pak Actions In Afghanistan

In Washington, Shringla Says Islamabad ‘Supported & Nurtured’ Taliban

- Chidanand Rajghatta

Washington: The US and India are reconciled to ceding their influence in Afghanistan to China, Pakistan, and its proxy Taliban so long as the territory is not used to nurture terrorist groups and foster terrorism, officials from both sides indicated on Friday.

After two days of consultations, diplomats from both sides decided they would adopt a wait and watch posture in the light of the Taliban’s assurance that the country would not become a terrorist haven that it was in the lead up to 9/11. “We have a wait and watch policy. It doesn’t mean you don’t do anything, it means that situation is very fluid on the ground, you’ve to see how it evolves. You’ve to see whether assurances that have been made are actually maintained on the ground,” India’s foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told journalists at the conclusion of his nearly week-long visit to the US during which the two sides also worked in tandem at the UN to, among other things, press the new regime in Kabul to ensure a more representational government in Afghanistan.