Equally, Pakistan’s appetite has been whetted and how it presents its own
“wish-list” to Obama (which it will do some day soon) will be keenly awaited in
the neighboring capital of New Delhi. The New Silk Road has a long gestation
period and such fruits have a tendency to turn sour quickly in the Central
Asian steppes.
Third, given that the Maine Ethics Commission last week fined Secure Maine’s Ballot for late campaign finance reporting and the group’s decision not to reveal how much of its funding comes from out of state, the campaign’s self-designation as guardian of election fairness comes off as disingenuous, if not downright dishonest.
Learning to live with the Americans in the neighborhood isn’t exactly turning
out to be a pleasant experience for Indian pundits. One day they were told that
the Haqqanis were the murderers who attacked the Indian Embassy in Kabul – and,
indeed, the US Embassy too – and now they overhear tit-bits of conversation
that the US has had a change of heart.
Clinton categorically denied that the Barack Obama administration recently
considered the option of US ground incursions into Pakistani territory. “That
has never been a serious consideration.” On the contrary, the US is rebooting
the strategic dialogue with Pakistan and is putting together a new work plan,
“Because we got, as you say, diverted over the last months, and we want to get
back to business.”
Dramatic u-turn
In the event, five things emerged. One, the US has publicly acknowledged the
centrality of Pakistan’s role in the Afghan endgame. Two, the US publicly
accepted the consistent Pakistani demand that the Haqqanis should be engaged in
talks and that excluding them would make the entire process fragile. The
Haqqani network is one of the most important components of the Taliban-led
insurgency in Afghanistan.
At any rate, Delhi would assess that in the long run, we are all dead, and,
therefore, its emphasis would be on the now and the tangible. The US may need
to work on Delhi to roll back its influence in Kabul; it may at some point try
to mediate on the Kashmir problem between India and Pakistan; it may
resuscitate its robust military partnership with Pakistan; it may invite in
China as a “stakeholder” in South Asia.