NATIONAL Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf on Tuesday categorically said that he would not attend an upcoming moot on the Afghanistan issue hosted by India.
According to Indian media, regional countries including China, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have been invited to the meeting which is expected to be held in New Delhi on November 10.
Responding to a question at a news conference in Islamabad, Moeed rightly justified the decision by arguing that a spoiler can’t be a peacemaker.
India has long been trying to deepen its influence in Afghanistan in a bid to secure its strategic and economic interests in the region but the machinations used to achieve the objective were unfair.
India used its clout and intelligence agencies to spoil almost each and every move aimed at national reconciliation in Afghanistan and that too at a time when there was consensus among the international community that only reconciliation was the durable solution of the longstanding conflict in the neighbouring country.
All regional countries tried to promote the idea of intra-Afghan dialogue and encouraged all sides to sit together and find an amicable solution to the problem but India conspired to derail the process.
The statements and actions of the Indian Government and reports appearing in the Indian media also conveyed a clear message to Afghanistan and the outside world that New Delhi was least interested in stability and security in the war-torn country.
The Taliban, ever since their assumption of power in Kabul, have done nothing to offend any country or harm any segment of their own population but despite all this Indians have been referring to the Taliban as a terrorist outfit.
India was one of those countries that opted to close their missions in Afghanistan on assumption of power by the Taliban and evacuated all their personnel.
There are also reports of India’s effective links with anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan including Daesh.
In this backdrop, it makes no sense to attend a moot on Afghanistan to be hosted by India when its real objectives and designs are not known.
In fact, as pointed out by Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director of the Asia Programme at the US-based Wilson Centre India has become one of the region’s most disadvantaged players in the context of Afghanistan because of its wrong policies and is trying to remain relevant by indulging in tactics like hosting of the meeting of the regional countries.
