India dismisses Pakistani fears over involvement in Afghanistan

September 25th, 2009 KABUL - In spite of repeated appeals from Afghanistan, Pakistan is jittery over allowing India to use its land routes for carrying out trade with Kabul. Earlier this year, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to begin talks for renewing their transit trade agreement.

September 25th, 2009 PITTSBURGH - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says people of Afghanistan as also European and American leaders are appreciative of India's role in Afghanistan where it has invested $1.5 billion to help reconstruction. "We have not supplied any arms, we are also helping them in construction and financing of projects in power, health and education sectors," he told reporters Friday when asked about a top US general's suggestion that India's growing influence in Afghanistan could "exacerbate" regional tensions.

September 23rd, 2009 NEW YORK - India's growing influence in Afghanistan could exacerbate regional tensions and encourage Pakistani "countermeasures" in Afghanistan or India, a top US military commander says. At the same time, General Stanley McChrystal, commander of the US and coalition forces in Afghanistan, has in his report to the Pentagon noted that Indian activities largely benefit the Afghan people.

September 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Even as a top US commander in Afghanistan has sought more forces, India has said there is no military solution to the conflict in that country and NATO combat operations should give way to a political settlement. India, one of the biggest investors in Afghanistan, "doesn't believe that war can solve any problem and that applies to Afghanistan also," External Affairs Minister S.M.

September 12th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Islamabad is actually not worried about India's involvement in Afghanistan, but such involvement should not go against Pakistan's interests. Qureshi said India's role in Afghanistan should not be exaggerated, but added that New Delhi should also notice that its increased Afghan involvement does not prove counter productive for Pakistan.

July 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Denying any rift or complications in postponing his trip to India, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said he would be going back to New Delhi by mid-August. "There were no complications.

July 30th, 2009 Indo-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON - Pakistan had provided the US with no evidence of India's alleged involvement in Balochistan though the issue did come up, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said after his visit to Islamabad. "I would be misleading if I said it didn't come up, but the narrow answer to your question is no," he said Wednesday when asked whether Pakistani leaders had given him any credible evidence of India's alleged involvement in Balochistan.

July 23rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - India and Pakistan need to put curbs on their intelligence agencies in order to end interference in each's other internal affairs, a leading Pakistani newspaper said Thursday. In an editorial on the Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing's (RAW) alleged involvement in insurgent activities in Balochistan, the Dawn said: "Stopping the meddling is more important than the manner in which it is brought to an end.

July 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan says it has handed over to India evidence of the involvement of its external spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in terrorist activities in this country, including the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore and on a police academy on the outskirts of the city earlier this year. Quoting sources, Dawn said Wednesday a dossier containing proof of Indias involvement in subversive activities in Pakistan was handed over by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh during their meeting at Sharm el-Sheikh last week.

July 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - "Our conduct is an open book," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Pakistani Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani when he brought up the issue of India being "active" in the restive Balochistan area. During the hour-long talks between the two leaders in Sharm-el-Sheikh Thursday, Manmohan Singh discussed the issue of terrorist acts "aided, abetted and inspired from Pakistan".

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Wednesday ruled out any military involvement in Afghanistan and underlined the need for greater international cooperation in restoring stability to the violence-torn country. "Nobody has suggested that India should get militarily involved.

May 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US has acknowledged that India as a 'great regional power' has a very high degree of interest in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Washington is now pushing Islamabad to move more troops from the Indian border to the 'epicentre of terrorism in western Pakistan'.

April 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan, it seems, is caught between the devil and deep sea in its commitments to the US-led war on terror in its lawless areas. The options before it are to agree to the US demands for joint military strikes in the FATA areas, failing which it may have to settle for the "regional approach", that will see India play a major role in deciding how the menace of terrorism should be met in the volatile region.

April 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Noting that Pakistan 'is a thriving sanctuary' for both Afghan and Al Qaeda militants operating in Afghanistan, a leading US think tank says Washington needs to get Pakistan on board with its new Af-Pak strategy, though progress is nowhere near assured. To give its strategy of negotiating with Afghan Taliban even a remote chance of success, 'involvement in Pakistan is both a headache and a necessity for the United States,' Stratfor, a global intelligence company, said in an analysis as two senior officials headed to the region.

January 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Getting Islamabad's cooperation to close Taliban sanctuaries in its tribal areas may be Washington's single hardest challenge as Pakistan has always used them to train people to operate in Kashmir or India, says a leading US expert. Bruce O. Riedel, an expert on South Asia who has worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Pentagon and National Security Council, says new special envoy Richard Holbrooke needs to reverse the negative momentum in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.