New Indian Consulate Signals Closer Ties (Afghanistan)

[Aidoneus]

New Indian Consulate Signals Closer Ties
India and Pakistan jostle for markets – and influence – in Afghanistan.
By Rahimullah Samander in Jalalabad (ARR No. 66, 08-Jul-03)

In what is widely seen as an attempt to reassert economic influence in eastern Afghanistan, the Indian government has reopened its consulate in Jalalabad a decade after it was shut down.

One of the consulate’s main roles will be to accelerate growing trade links between the two nations, starting with new air links from Amritsar, Ludhiana and Delhi in India to Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province.

India and its rival Pakistan, which borders the province, have long jostled for markets in Jalalabad. The city occupies a strategic position, controlling the main road between Kabul and the Khyber Pass, and on to Pakistan.

The region is important politically since Pakistan exercises considerable influence here, as in the rest of southern and eastern Afghanistan. When the Russian-backed government of Najibullah fell in 1992, links with Pakistan – which had been hostile to the communist regime – grew dramatically. This continued through the Taleban period and remains the case, the most visible sign being the Pakistani goods and rupees which dominate local markets.

India had been on good terms with the Najibullah government, and subsequently its star fell as Pakistan’s rose. It closed its Jalalabad consulate in 1992, and trade dried up. Relations with the Taleban government were poor because India supported the Northern Alliance. The Afghan national airline was banned from flying to India and there was no land route through Pakistan.

The present Afghan government led by President Hamed Karzai is trying to pursue more balanced foreign policy and has fostered better relations with India while ensuring Pakistan remains involved. The sensitive nature of the latter relationship was highlighted in recent days by allegations that Pakistani troops had made incursions into Nangarhar and Kunar provinces in pursuit of Taleban and Al-Qaida forces. That prompted criticism from Karzai on July 7, and crowds of Afghans attacked the Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul.

--snip--

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/arr/arr_200307_66_1_eng.txt

[papau]

1. Saw where India refused our invitation to send troops to Iraq

Seems the world has decided to ignore Bush43's begging for help to get out of the mess he is in.

[bemildred]

2. This is interesting.

Given that the new Afghan government is engaging in
firefights to expel Pakistani troops and that India and
Karzai are cozying up, Musharraf must feel so "used".

My guess is it doesn't mean much though, neither Pakistan or
Afghanistan is governable at this point, so this falls in the
category of spooks jerking each other off.

Edit: I do wonder what they "trade" in.