Pak concerns on India’s role exaggerated: Dobbins

KABUL‘s concerns about India’s presence in Afghan cities like Kandahar and Jalalabad were “simply exaggerated”.

The statement from the Obama Administration coming in the wake of a terrorist attack on Indian consulate in Jalalabad last week could be considered as significant.
“I think it’s exaggerated… that presence is rather minuscule. You’re talking about a dozen or two-dozen people at most. India has a strong economic and cultural presence in Afghanistan which will allow a continued military presence to advise and assist the afghan security forces. In this regard India and Pakistani policies are identical.”
Dobbins said his biggest concerns for both Afghanistan and Pakistan are similar. “They derive from the continued threat of insurgency and militant groups that want to overthrow the government, overthrow the constitutional order, undermine democracy,” he said.
“I think one shouldn’t be naively optimistic about the future but at the same time I think both countries have a capability of overcoming these challenges, particularly if they cooperate. On the other hand if they don’t cooperate, I think for both countries this is going to be a much more dangerous challenge,” he said.

PAN Monitor/ma

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