India, part of regional cooperation in Afghanistan: UN envoy

Betwa Sharma
United Nations, Mar 5 (PTI) Advocating a political
reconciliation in Afghanistan, the outgoing UN envoy in the
war-torn nation has said that India had a role to play in
enhancing regional cooperation to benefit the country.
"When I talk about regional coordination or regional
cooperation, it embraces the wider region, where India is also
an important part," Kai Eide said when asked whether bad blood
between India and Pakistan was having a negative impact on
Afghanistan.
But the UN envoy who is believed to be playing
mediatory role to set up talks between moderates in Taliban
and Afghan government, skirted responding to queries on recent
attacks on Indian officials in the Afghan capital and killing
of Pakistani construction workers in Kandahar.
"I don't think I will speculate on any of these
incidents, in particular since investigations are going on...
The only thing I can say is that every incident of this sort
is a deep tragedy. We have witnessed that ourselves and we
know how hard it is. But to speculate more of interaction
here, I don't think I agree," he said.
Eide, a Norwegian, is being replaced by Swiss diplomat
Staffan de Mistura, who will take over as UN Secretary
General's Special Representative in Afghanistan and head of
the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
PTI