Appearing from Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Muzaffarabad & Quetta

Tuesday, November 24, 2009, Zil`Hajj 06, 1430

Singh to unfold ‘regional designs’ to Obama

Hameed Shaheen

Islamabad—A well known US-based Indian academician C Raja Mohan argues that the Indian premier Dr Manmohan Singh in his current visit to USA should broach American leadership ‘India’s own plan, both short- and medium term to lead the north-western subcontinent towards stability and prosperity’. The north-western geographic terminology clearly means Pakistan and Afghanistan demonstrating ballooning regional designs of New Delhi flying at the wings of USA.

C Raja Mohan is Henry A Kissinger chair on foreign policy & international relations at the Library of Congress, Washington DC whose latest write-up speaks vividly of India’s future strategy in the region.

Mohan persuades in his write-up: ‘Dr Singh has insisted for years that the destiny of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India is inter-linked. The PM has also argued that rediscovering the shared past and imagining a cooperative future hold the key to durable peace across the Indus.

‘India’s opposition to ‘third-party intervention” in the Subcontinent is well-known. What America needs to know and hear from Dr Singh is about India’s own plan — both short- and medium-term — to lead the north-western Subcontinent towards stability and prosperity.

‘Those plans will necessarily include the revival of trade along the traditional Silk Road between Amritsar, Lahore, Peshawar and Kabul, negotiation of comprehensive trade and transit agreements, and trilateral political engagement between the elected leaders of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to defeat the forces of violent extremism.

‘Whether the Obama Administration agrees with these initiatives or not, Dr Singh would be right to make the Indian case at the White House’ advocates C Raja Mohan.

In order to safeguard the regional interests of her own Islamabad needs to counter any hostile perception in the corridors of US strategic lobbies in time.

Editor Foreign Affairs:

Editor:

Executive Editor:

GM Marketing:

Karachi

Lahore

Peshawar