US invites India, Pak to be engaged in transition in Afghanistan

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Nov 19 (PTI) In what is being viewed as the
"most significant change" in its Afghan strategy, the Obama
administration has invited both India and Pakistan to be
engaged in transition process of the war-torn nation, where
the US intends to transfer security to Afghan forces by 2014.
"Our strategy is a regional strategy and we have invited
countries from Pakistan to India to be engaged in and support
this transition in Afghanistan," State Department spokesman
P J Crowley told reporters in response to a question.
His remarks came more than a week after President Barack
Obama's visit to India, where he discussed the Afghan
situation with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"That is perhaps the most significant change that we've
put into effect over the last 18 months, almost two years, is
to take it from being just about Afghanistan to being about
the region as a whole," Crowley said, adding the US is aware
of India's "genuine national security interest" in
Afghanistan.
While the Obama Administration has been very appreciative
of India's role in Afghanistan, this is possibly for the first
time that a senior US official has said that New Delhi has
been invited to support the transition process in Afghanistan.
"India has significantly invested in Afghanistan, and we
continue to encourage the role that India is playing to help
Afghanistan develop its economy and improve its security."
The US envisions 2011 as the beginning of a transition
where Afghanistan will take greater responsibility for its own
security, culminating in Afghan leadership of its own
security by 2014, he said, adding that this is important to
Afghanistan and the region.
"The process between now and then is focused on
helping to strengthen Afghanistan's government both at the
national level and at the local level, building up critical
institutions that include both military capabilities and
police capabilities," Crowley said.
"This has the ability to help continue the transformation
of this region. So it has benefits for Afghanistan, but as
Afghanistan stabilises, it has obviously benefits that accrue
to other countries, including Pakistan, including India and
others.
"As you build up institutions and they perform, you can
expect to see improvements in the Afghan economy and the
export of Afghan goods to other countries in the region,"
Crowley said. PTI