Afghanistan’s former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah dismissed charges that India was using the country to support anti-Pakistan elements, saying there was “misperception” in Islamabad regarding New Delhi’s role in the country.
Highly appreciative of India’s role in development work in his country, Mr Abdullah said no country should have the authority to veto Afghanistan’s relations with another nation.
“In Pakistan there is a misperception of what India is doing in Afghanistan. They think that there are training camps led by Indians in Afghanistan for Balochis and others. They think that there are perhaps several camps. Even the number of consulate and people working there, they (Pakistan) have got it wrong,” he said.
Mr Abdullah was speaking at the US Institute of Peace, a Washington-based think tank, in response to a question. “In terms of the role that India played in Afgh-anistan, it is very significant in terms of supporting the developmental process, reconstruction of Afghanis-tan, institutional capacity building,” he said. Mr Abdullah, the opposition candidate in the last Afghan elections, is currently in the US to address a number of think tanks, besides meeting a number of eminent legislators.
His US trip comes within days of the visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, during which he met his US counterpart Barack Obama. Mr Abdullah said Pakistan is also helping in the reconstruction of war-torn Afghanistan.