India invited to international meet on Af-Pak in Italy

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Jun 24 (PTI) India along with other key
global powers and regional players has been invited to an
international meet on Afghanistan and Pakistan in Trieste,
Italy later this week.

Iran, which has been also invited for the crucial
Af-Pak meet by host Italy, has not yet responded.

"We expect an open dialogue on the challenges that we
face together in Afghanistan and Pakistan," said a State
Department official.

However, the senior official could not comment what
would be expected from India at this meeting with regard to
Pakistan. India's role in Afghanistan is well known, where New
Delhi is quietly involved in massive developmental activities.

The meeting would be held on the sidelines of the G-8
Foreign Minister's meeting. Under Secretary of State for
Political Affairs William Burns and Special envoy for Pakistan
and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke would represent the US.

Italians are convinced, he said, that this is a global
problem and can only be dealt with globally.

"If we all working together, I think there's a
significant amount of common interest in Pakistan in
bolstering the Pakistani government and in providing more
resources for its fight against the Taliban and other
extremists, and for finding money," he said.

The official noted that there is an enormous
humanitarian challenge in Pakistan and the international
community will need more resources to deal with that.

"All of these countries coming together who have an
interest in all of these same things: bolstering the
government, fighting extremists, and dealing with the
humanitarian situation, we hope we will be able to coordinate
the efforts better with a chance to talk about it," he said.

Asked if the participating countries would be asked
for both humanitarian and military aid with regard to
Pakistan, the official said, "We will be looking for all of
the ways in which countries will be able to help bolster the
government and contribute towards these goals."

The official said host Italy have really wanted to put
a very heavy emphasis on Afghanistan and Pakistan at this G-8
meeting, given the degree to which this is a question of
global concern.

"So, some of those Afghanistan-Pakistan meetings in
Trieste will be attended by Afghanistan's neighbours, and by
the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as
other countries and organisations with a stake in those two
countries," he added. PTI LKJ