No evidence to suggest India backing Pak rebels: Holbrooke

Islamabad, Apr 25 (PTI) Pakistan should focus on
militancy within its borders instead of worrying about India's
presence in Afghanistan as there is no evidence to suggest
that New Delhi is backing the extremists, US Special Envoy
Richard Holbrooke has said.

"Pakistan does not have to worry about India in
Afghanistan. They need to worry about the miscreants in
western Pakistan," Holbrooke said in an interview with Geo
News channel at the US State Department in Washington.

"Now if the Indians were supporting those miscreants,
that would be extraordinarily bad (and) really dangerous. But
they're not. There is no evidence at all that the Indians are
supporting the miscreants in the Federally Administered Tribal
Areas or North West Frontier Province or Waziristan. None," he
said.

Holbrooke was responding to a question on Pakistan's
concerns about India's presence in Afghanistan. He noted that
India has been playing a key role in the reconstruction of the
war-ravaged country.

"India has given Afghanistan about USD 1 billion in
assistance. They're rebuilding the parliament building,
they've built a very useful road in the southwestern part of
the country leading down towards Iran. They're training
agricultural experts, they're giving scholarships. The Indians
have published a pamphlet on what they're doing. I don't think
that should be cause of concern for Pakistan."

The US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan
dismissed a question on Pakistan's perceived concerns about
the activities of Indian consulates in Afghanistan.

"Pakistanis have told me for a long time that India has
hundreds of people in its consulate in Kandahar in
Afghanistan. I asked Americans and UN people how big the
Indian consulate was in Kandahar and they said six or eight
people. You know I am not worried about that."

Holbrooke also defended his recent observation that India
has a "leading role" to play in the region. The remark was
widely criticised in Pakistan.

"Of course, I said India has a leading role. It's the
second largest country in the world. It's one of the most
important countries in the world. What India does matters to
the world," he said.

"China is a very important nation too. China and India
have common borders with Pakistan. If you are interested in
helping Pakistan, you should talk to its neighbours and that
includes China, India and Afghanistan. Seems very simple, but
we never told India what they should do in Afghanistan."

Asked about the US administration's stand on the Kashmir
issue, Holbrooke replied he was "not in-charge of US-Indian
relations".

"My job is only Afghanistan and Pakistan. And when I go
to India, it's to consult them and keep them abreast of the
situation so that they know we're not doing anything behind
their back that would affect them. But I'm not involved in
that (Kashmir) issue."