Pakistan Russia China axis in region making India isolated: Times of India Article
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DELHI: US President Donald Trump ruling out talks with the Taliban will probably be seen as a good sign by India which has for long publicly articulated that a dialogue with terrorists of any stripe is not tenable, Times of India has reported.
India will also be pleased that it now has the US on its side against a growing closeness between Pakistan-China and Russia on their willingness to talk with the Taliban. On Afghanistan, India was being isolated by these countries, because of its across-the-board 'no talks with terror' stand.
India's position has been that no interaction with the Taliban should cross what it calls certain "red lines" - giving up violence, accepting the Afghan constitution and abiding by it and cutting off all ties with the al Qaida.
India has also said that it should be up to Kabul to decide who it wants to negotiate with, to bring peace to a nation torn by war for the last 16 years. And Kabul, in turn, has almost the same conditions as India, the same "red lines" it doesn't want to cross, to talk peace.
Last June, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said, yet again, that his administration's preconditions for peace talks include the Taliban recognising the Afghan constitution, continuity in the reforms to do with educating and advancing the rights of women and renunciation of violence and linkages with terrorist groups, reported the Voice of America.
Now, it appears Trump, too, cannot abide the crossing of these "red lines", especially the violence. That's why, after a string of terror attacks in Kabul over the last 10 days, Trump yesterday said "enough".
"They are killing people left and right. Innocent people are being killed left and right, bombing in the middle of children, in the middle of families, bombing, killing all over Afghanistan," said Trump, reported PTI.
"What nobody else has been able to finish we're going to be able to do it," said Trump yesterday, after the horrific terror attacks in Kabul.
The US President didn't specify what he has in mind, but he seemed to suggest that a stronger military response is imminent.
Trump's remarks come during a month when it was revealed by the Taliban that they recently held talks with Pakistan <link>, China and Qatar, in Islamabad <link>, on finding a solution to the Afghan war.
Trump's remarks also come following reports this month that Russia has offered to host direct talks between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban.
None of these developments would have made India happy. New Delhi is already battling the Pakistan-China axis; with Russia thrown in the mix, it appeared to be increasingly isolated from a role in a solution for Afghanistan.
