New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Monday left for Kabul on a two-day visit during which he is expected to air India’s concerns over the contentious Taliban reconciliation plan, which is the focus of an international conference on Afghanistan.
Krishna is expected to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday on the sidelines of the conference that is being attended by foreign ministers and representatives of 70 countries and international organisations.
This will be the largest gathering of international leaders in Afghanistan since the 1970s, where the Karzai government will seek international assistance for bolstering governance and national stability.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, with whom Krishna recently held talks in Islamabad, will also be in Kabul to participate in the conference. But no bilateral meeting is on the cards except for an exchange of pleasantries.
Krishna is expected to voice India’s concerns about the proposed reintegration of the Taliban, a contentious proposal of luring low-level radical operatives with cash and job incentives. The plan was endorsed by the 70-nation London Conference on Afghanistan six months ago.
At that time, India reluctantly went along with the idea but on condition that only those Taliban who renounce links to Al Qaeda and accept the Afghan constitution are accommodated.
India, which has invested $1.3 billion in multifarious socio-economic reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, has strongly opposed any distinction between the good Taliban and the bad Taliban and regards the hardline Islamist militia as a threat to regional security.
Pakistan has scaled up efforts to influence power-sharing negotiations in Afghanistan, especially in view of the July 2011 deadline for withdrawal of US forces from that country.
India has viewed with concern Pakistan’s increasing influence in the emerging power equations in Afghanistan as it impinges on its interests in that country.
