'Pak has no veto over Afghan right to have ties with India'

London, Oct 6 (PTI) Pakistan cannot have a veto over the
right of Afghan government to have relationship with India,
former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal has said, making it
clear that New Delhi has no interest in getting involved in
military situation in the war-torn country.
Islamabad continues to press the international community
to reduce India's role in Afghanistan but the idea has met
with little success as it has been rejected by the US, the
former top diplomat said at an international conference on
Afghanistan here on Wednesday.
Visualizing no light visible at the end of Afghan tunnel,
Sibal said that Pakistan for over 30 years had intervened in
Afghanistan politically and militarily which was hitting the
mood to find a viable peace in the country.
Sibal said the best scenario for the country would be US
success in forcing Pakistan to change its Afghan policies
fundamentally, abandon its terrorists links and see advantages
in normalizing relations with India and join in the larger
project of creating a shared stable space covering central and
South Asia.
India remained cautious about being caught in the Afghan
tangle more than necessary, the former diplomat said, adding
that it would be a "grave mistake to induct Indian troops into
Afghanistan while Western troops were being withdrawn."
Pakistan will exploit the situation to the hilt in such a
scenario by sending Jihadi elements - both Afghani and
Pakistani - at India.
The other prominent speakers at the day long conference
organised by Asia Pacific Foundation and George C Marshall
European Centre for security studies included former Afghan
intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh.
Saleh said, "Pakistan army is the largest political party
in Pakistan and is using Taliban as its tool." He also said
that Lashkar-e-Taiba is also a branch of the Pakistan army.
Sibal, who was one of the key speakers, said that former
Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani's assassination was a
setback to the reconciliation process.
Blaming Pakistan for the continued strife in Afghanistan,
the former diplomat said the deteriorating relations between
Washington and Islamabad would make the transition process
more difficult.
Pakistani scholar Ishtiaq Ahmad said: "India and Pakistan
cannot hope to make progress in their peace process... if
their strategic rivalry over Afghanistan continues unabated."
He said: "Progress in India-Pakistan peace process is
imperative for preventing the recurrence of this proxy war
following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from
Afghanistan. This is the only way to address Pakistan's
insecurity dilemma caused by India's proactive role in post-
Taliban Afghanistan and India's principal worry about Pakistan
attempting to re-install the Taliban in power." PTI HSR
MNS