the biden administration has begun an
overhaul
of america's afghanistan strategy and it
finally wants
india at the table in a leaked letter to
afghan president ashraf ghani
u.s secretary of state anthony blinken
outlined a series of steps
to jump start the stalled peace process
one of them was a un-backed conference
of regional powers
and stakeholders we intend to ask the
united nations to convene foreign
ministers and envoys from russia
china pakistan iran india and the united
states
to discuss a unified approach to
supporting peace
in afghanistan now afghanistan has a
troubled history with its neighbours
in a complex web of competing interests
and proxy powers
but increasingly india is a new focus
for diplomatic efforts to broker a
lasting peace
the u.s has made clear that it welcomes
new delhi's engagement
india has fostered close ties to the
afghan government in recent years
in the form of billions of dollars in
aid and development
last month indian prime minister
narendra modi gave his support
to a peace process that is led owned
and controlled by afghanistan
and joining me now from delhi for more
is shubhajit roy he's an award-winning
journalist
and reports on india's foreign relations
for the indian express
newspaper shivajit welcome indian prime
minister
narendra modi wants the peace process to
be afghan-led and afghan controlled
as does the u.s state department how
does the current proposal from anthony
blinken
involving six nations make it so
indian position has always been that the
afghan peace process should be afghan
owned afghan led and have gone
controlled
and it also had you know about three or
four red lines
one being uh there should be the
reduction in violence
women's rights should be respected and
constitutional
uh you know uh principles should be
observed
now in that india is finally
part of the negotiating table in uh
in upon on the path towards peace in
afghanistan this has been a u.s
led proposal which which was revealed
last week
through a letter by the u.s secretary of
state and now
uh india is expected to be finally be
part of the table
after being on the sidelines for almost
a couple of decades now so what does
india bring to the table shivajit
well india has invested in afghanistan
in its reconstruction and redevelopment
uh you know in a big way in a major way
in the last two decades
since uh you know 2001 after the 9 11
attacks
and it spent close to 3 billion dollars
in the reconstruction and redevelopment
and uh it has
developed that constancy very carefully
because uh you know it essentially wants
to
counter uh pakistan's influence in
afghanistan
which has been a problem for india from
india's perspective
terrorism emanating out of afghanistan
and pakistan and the cross border
terrorism has been a major security
challenge
uh if you remember about two or three
decades
back when uh after the afghan war uh
sort of uh ended the the
elements the terror elements from uh the
uh from from the afghan border afghan
territory
they moved to kashmir so that has been a
major security challenge for
india so india has has wanted that
it should be involved in securing
afghanistan's
peace and prosperity so that it is able
to
you know have a say and not be on the
sideline
you said india wanted to counter
pakistan's influence but then india will
find itself sitting
at the talks table with pakistan and
with china two countries with whom
relations haven't always been the best
let's just put it that way
and you also have russia which has been
a traditional indian ally who is
expected to be at the talk table
but wasn't apparently too happy with
india being part of this process
so i'm just wondering here how do these
six nations get together
despite these nations having convert
divergent interests
well you've uh you know hit the nail uh
at the at the right spot you know what
has happened
is although the countries have expressed
it their position that it should be
afghan-led afghan owned and afghan
control
but all the processes have been led
controlled and
you know owned by other players other
actors
in in the region and that has been a
major challenge for afghanistan
and the peace process now if it
has to take off all the regional players
whether they see eye to eye with each
other whether
it be india versus pakistan or india
versus china
russia versus u.s uh all the countries
have to have the stakes have to have the
skin in the game
for uh the peace process to move forward
in a
in a pragmatic in a feasible manner
and that is the major challenge for this
peace process
which uh has been fragile as you know in
the last
year or so that has been very evident
um you speak to the people in the afghan
government as well i wonder
how afghan government officials view the
involvement of so many nations
in a peace process that is meant to
benefit them
yes you're absolutely right afghan
government
has always wanted it
the peace process to be led by them but
unfortunately as the realities stand on
the ground
uh they are they are one uh
entity or one player in this in the in
the mix
the taliban and as well as the americans
uh having cut a deal last year now
more more countries and more
stakeholders are now
in the game and they see some they see
as not so benign influence and some they
feel can contribute to a sort of a
positive atmosphere
for all the constitutional gains that
they've acquired over the last
two decades should we throw i will leave
it there for the time being but thank
you so much for joining us