Speak up on Afghanistan

At a lunch for UN Security Council members, US President Donald Trump said that after the recent “atrocities” in Afghanistan — a reference to a spate of ghastly attacks in Kabul last week — his government wouldn’t hold talks with the Taliban. He added, though, that if talks were held, it would “be a long way off”.

The anger is palpable, and understandable. But this can’t be deemed as the final US stance. Only a month earlier, a New York Times report said, America’s UN ambassador Nikki Haley had said all parties were preparing for a conversation. This was before the US suspended a tranche of crucial defence-related payments to Pakistan, which angered Islamabad. The succession of attacks on Kabul was a follow up. The real point, really, is Pakistan. The Taliban are only an instrumentality.

The US should say if it’s prepared to take any further steps to chastise Islamabad, besides stopping defence funds. That would give Afghans hope of meaningful steps being taken.

Besides commiserating with victims of terrorist strikes in Kabul, India has said nothing of a political nature about Afghanistan lately. The least it can say is that US forces should end the futile attempt to bomb Afghan villages in search of terrorists, but focus instead on the sanctuaries inside Pakistan. Remember, India and Afghanistan are strategic allies. Every day they fight the same forces in tackling extremism and terrorism. India should voice its own thoughts, not repeat Washington’s, although the two are friendly.