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WASHINGTON: As the Afghan government engaged the Taliban in talks, the United States assured India that it would not support a power-sharing arrangement between Kabul and the militants.
A cable released by WikiLeaks shows that US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke told visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao in January this year that the Taliban would not be included in any power arrangement.
The Indian foreign secretary had sought US pressure on Pakistan to break its alleged ties with terrorist groups and to permit Afghanistan’s economic links with India to grow. “During the meeting Mr Holbrooke said that some of the anxiety stems from confusion between reintegration and reconciliation,” the cable notes.
The special envoy told the Indian official the reintegration programme was not a political negotiation designed to give Taliban elements a share in power. “The US cannot be a party to any such arrangement, in his view, because the Taliban is allied with the Al Qaeda and the social programmes of the Taliban are unpalatable,” he said. Mr Holbrooke also said the Taliban leadership appeared to have no interest in talking to the international community in Afghanistan.
“Secretary Rao said India needs some deliverables on terrorism before it can engage bilaterally with Pakistan,” the cable notes. Ms Rao readily agreed to Mr Holbrooke’s request for a briefing on Indian training for Afghan security personnel, emphasising that this engagement was transparent. She supported his argument by noting that India had previously provided a detailed briefing on this at the US-India Defence Policy Group meetings.
“We have nothing to hide,” she said.
“Mr Holbrooke assured Ms Rao that he is in favour of Indian assistance programmes in Afghanistan and is not influenced by what he hears in Islamabad,” the cable notes.
“Mr Holbrooke also allayed Indian concerns that UNSCR 1267 policy would be altered with respect to Taliban and LeT leaders such as Mullah Omar, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Hafiz Saeed.”
