CHARCHA<\/p>\n
An indication of the Administration\u2019s regional priorities has been the pattern of high-level visits in recent weeks Author: Amb. Yogendra Kumar 27.04.2016 Photograph: Kevin Lamarque\/Reuters US NSA\u2019s visit to South Asia \u2013 implications for India The visit of the newly appointed US National Security Adviser, General McMaster, to South Asia last weekend was the first high-level visit of the representative of the Trump administration. An indication of the Administration\u2019s regional priorities has been the pattern of high-level visits in recent weeks: Vice President Pence has been visiting South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Australia, US Defence Secretary, having visited Japan and South Korea, is currently visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Egypt and Djibouti whilst the Secretary of State, having visited Japan, South Korea and China, went on to visit Western Europe and Russia.<\/p>\n
This inter-agency delegation, led by General McMaster, included the new National Security Council Director for South Asia, Lisa Curtis, who has recently co- authored a policy recommendation paper by the Hudson Institute, Washington, advocating punitive action against Pakistan, including declaration of individuals \u2013 or, even, Pakistan itself as extreme measure \u2013 as sponsors of terrorism These high-level visits are not only significant for the new US Administration to make \u2018spot\u2019 assessments but also for indications of its emerging policies towards the regions concerned; thus, they also give a specific direction to the turn of unfolding events. For the same reasons, US NSA\u2019s visit evoked considerable interest amongst observers, both regional and international. As the pattern of visits has shown, the new Administration\u2019s interest is intensively focused on North Korea, with the US and the Chinese Presidents being personally involved, the US NSA also issued a stark warning to North Korea during his stay in Kabul. Yet, the pace is picking up in Southwest Asia also as evident in the use, on the eve of his visit, of the most destructive non-nuclear bomb in US armoury against the ISIS group in Afghanistan \u2013 a faction of the TTP (Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistan) called \u2018Wilayet-e-Khorasan\u2019; the \u2018direct\u2019 impact of this bombing has been of the reported killing of 13 Indians, out of a total of 21, who had surreptitiously gone to Afghanistan from Kerala. This inter-agency delegation, led by General McMaster, included the new National Security Council Director for South Asia, Lisa Curtis, who has recently co- authored a policy recommendation paper by the Hudson Institute, Washington, advocating punitive action against Pakistan, including declaration of individuals \u2013 or, even, Pakistan itself as extreme measure \u2013 as sponsors of terrorism for lack of cooperation for supporting the Taleban who have shown no inclination to enter into peace negotiations with Afghan government.<\/p>\n
There has been some speculation in the US media that the NSA\u2019s visit to the region was planned at short notice. US declined a Russian invitation to regional consultations on Afghanistan, on 14 April, which were attended by senior representatives from India, Afghanistan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan: US considered these to be \u201ca unilateral Russian attempt to assert influence in the region that (it) felt wasn\u2019t constructive at this time\u201d. On the same date, a trilateral meeting at the level of foreign ministers between Russia, Syria and Iran took place in Moscow in which they condemned the US missile attacks on the Syrian air field as \u201ca gross violation of international law\u201d. In contrast with the cooperation between the two countries at the time of the installation of the Karzai government, their strategic interests are divergent, reflecting their \u2018global\u2019 contestation, in the Af-Pak region where new alignments are emerging with Pakistan, Iran and, even, China coming closer to Russia.<\/p>\n
Russia has rejected US accusations of weapon supplies to the Taleban. There is also deepening distrust between the Afghan leadership and Russia over the latter\u2019s overtures to the Taleban. At the same time, the current US commander in Afghanistan, General Nicholson, describing the current military situation in Afghanistan as stalemate in his Congressional testimony, has asked for several thousand more troops to bolster the Operation Resolute Support for its mandated task of providing training to the 300,000- strong Afghan army and to carry out operations against the Al Qaeda and the ISIS. During his discussions with the Afghan President, the latter put the blame squarely on Pakistan. General McMaster, in an interview to a local TV channel, stated that those who refused to talk to Afghanistan government need to be defeated on the \u201cbattlefield\u201d.<\/p>\n
Referring specifically to Pakistan, he stated that it is \u201cin their interest to go after these groups less selectively than they have done in the past… Best way to pursue their interests in Afghanistan and elsewhere is through use of diplomacy\u201d (emphasis added). According to Pakistan\u2019s \u2018Dawn\u2019 newspaper, McMaster also said in that interview that those perpetuating violence in Afghanistan \u201cought to be exposed and held accountable\u201d. Aliquam dolor. byline Lorem Ipsum In contrast with the cooperation between the two countries at the time of the installation of the Karzai government, their strategic interests are divergent, reflecting their \u2018global\u2019 contestation, in the Af- Pak region where new alignments are emerging with Pakistan, Iran and, even, China coming closer to Russia<\/p>\n
From Kabul, he travelled to Islamabad for meetings with the leadership, including Prime Minister, the Army Chief, the Pakistani NSA and others. The US Embassy, in its statement, stated that the US NSA stressed \u201cthe need to confront terrorism in all its forms\u201d \u2013 which the Pakistani military spokesperson, immediately, dismissed as \u201cpolitical rhetoric\u201d. According to the Pakistani official statements, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed readiness to work with the international community to explore ways to resolve the Afghan crisis. He also talked about the Kashmir issue referring to the US President\u2019s reported willingness to help India and Pakistan to resolve their differences, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. Following the meeting between him and the Army Chief, the Pakistan military\u2019s press release, in apparent reference to his Kabul interview, stated, \u201cPakistan itself a victim of state sponsored terrorism, strongly rejects allegations of employing proxies from its soil. US NSA acknowledged Pakistan Army\u2019s efforts in eliminating terrorism and infrastructure, assuring US support to bring peace and stability in the region and globally.\u201d The Pakistan Army\u2019s officially released video clip of the meeting shows a tense atmosphere at this meeting.<\/p>\n
The shifting geopolitics in Southwest Asia could be behind the terse public messaging on the part of the Pakistan military. It could also be their calculation that an increased number of US troops in Afghanistan would imply greater US dependence on the supply routes via Pakistan; the tense relations with Russia might also mean increased difficulty in using the alternate northern supply route. The use of the largest non-nuclear bomb in the adjacent Nangarhar province against the \u2018Wilayet-e-Khorasan\u2019 terrorists was a signal not just to Russia but also to Pakistan because of their hostility to the latter. The Congressional requests for funding for Pakistan by the present Administration have not shown any reduction from the previous years although the President has the authority to withhold funding if Pakistan does not cooperate in cracking down on terrorists inimical to US operations in Afghanistan. The use of the largest non-nuclear bomb in the adjacent Nangarhar province against the \u2018Wilayet-e-Khorasan\u2019 terrorists was a signal not just to Russia but also to Pakistan because of their hostility to the latter.<\/p>\n
General McMaster\u2019s meeting, in New Delhi, with the Prime Minister was preceded by extensive delegation level discussions with his Indian counterpart. The Prime Minister\u2019s office stated that the two sides discussed how to effectively address the challenge of terrorism and to advance regional peace, security and stability, the regional scope of which covered Afghanistan, West Asia and North Korea. The US Embassy\u2019s press release stated that the bilateral talks \u201cemphasise the importance of US-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed India\u2019s designation as a major defence partner.\u201d The new US administration\u2019s approach, from the public messaging point of view, shows new determination to get to the brass tacks and the anxiety in Islamabad is palpable. Whilst \u2018spot\u2019 assessment has been done by the new NSA with considerable personal military experience in Afghanistan, there are fresh strategic alignments in the region and Islamabad still feels that it has some cards to play. As Afghanistan faces security uncertainty, including periodic exchange of artillery shells between the Afghan and Pakistani armies, and political fragility with presidential elections due in two years\u2019 time, the question still remains as to how much deeper the new US Administration intends to get involved there as it thinks through its global priorities. And, this is where the anxieties of the Indian leadership lie. Whilst \u2018spot\u2019 assessment has been done by the new NSA with considerable personal military experience in Afghanistan, there are fresh strategic alignments in the region and Islamabad still feels that it has some cards to play.<\/p>\n
The author has served as Indian Ambassador to Dushanbe, Tajikistan where he was also in-charge of Afghan affairs. He has also served in Islamabad, Pakistan as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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