The single biggest message conveyed by the use of the so-called “mother of all bombs” by the United States in Afghanistan last Thursday is that the war is about to be intensified – militarily as well as in the political and diplomatic arena.
India has to take some difficult decisions. And they need to be taken quickly.
The regional tour itinerary of the United States National Security Adviser HR McMaster includes Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
The itinerary comes as a pleasant surprise, because despite the great bonhomie between Delhi and Washington in the Barack Obama era, when it came to Afghan war, Americans continued to be cagey about identifying with India lest it annoyed Pakistan, which was despite the hiccups in the USA’s relations with that country. Pakistan, nonetheless, has remained its irreplaceable non-North Atlantic Treaty Organisation partner in the region.
One cannot recollect a previous instance of a US president deputing his NSA to undertake a highly consequential “Afghan mission” by visiting New Delhi alongside Pakistan in a single loop.
Conceivably, Delhi establishment will read meaning into it – and, rightly so – by estimating that with this US “recognition”, India has “arrived” on the Afghan chessboard.
So, it becomes important to analyse why the US is elevating India’s profile as a protagonist in the Afghan war.
SOURCE: goo.gl/Q82c6M