Former US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill’s Plan B — de facto partition of Afghanistan — does not appear to have many takers in India as there are reservations about whether redrawing borders in Afghanistan will be consistent with Indian interests. If the mood on Raisina Hill is any indicator, partition is not a desirable end state
in Afghanistan. Also, in the absence of an intra-regional traction for neutrality in Afghanistan, India contends that international community must neither abandon Afghanistan nor hand it over to a people who cannot be brought to account.
These sentiments are shared to an extent by Canada. William Crosbie, Canada’s ambassador in Kabul, said that the Afghan people should be allowed to decide “what kind of country they want”. He notes in the same breath that there is “no real threat that Afghanistan will break apart”.
Mr Crosbie also says that Pakistan is part of the problem in Afghanistan. “Clearly, Afghanistan and Pakistan got to enjoy a relationship of trust. It has to be part of the solution,” he asserts. His remarks echoed that of US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who recently said that “the historic distrust between Pakistan and Afghanistan remains a major cause of regional instability”.
Afghanistan will be on the table during Indian Army chief’s discussions with US Central Command (Centcom) commander and others in the US next week, in what is described as the first-ever high-level meeting between Centcom and the Indian military establishment.