America first afghan concerns spur trump

America first afghan concerns spur trump

US President Donald Trump’s outreach to India and Pakistan, calling on both countries to reduce tensions, is neither rehyphenation of India and Pakistan nor an attempt to mediate on Kashmir, but an exercise in Trump’s version of America First foreign policy. Washington had to give Islamabad a token of accommodation to keep it from derailing America’s peace talks with the Taliban. For the US president, what counts is the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan ahead of the 2020 US presidential elections, not peace and stability in South Asia.

Given President Trump’s endgame, a successful ‘peace’ deal with the Taliban requires that it is not upsetting Pakistan. In its effort to keep Islamabad content that the Trump administration helped with the $6 billion bailout from the IMF, and designated the Balochistan Liberation Army as a terrorist organisation. President Trump urging India and Pakistan to reduce tensions seems rather misplaced as it is Pakistan and its prime minister who have raised tensions, through their efforts to internationalise the issue. New Delhi must continue to shine the light on Pakistan’s support to terrorists by providing a safe haven and as a centre for terrorist finance. This will require working with partners across the globe, particularly the G7, Russia, and countries that are the victims of terror, such as Afghanistan.

New Delhi must step up its engagement with the elected government in Kabul, which is a party to neither the US peace plan nor talks. It must marshal other countries to contribute to the effort to help secure the gains made by Afghanistan post-2001. Allowing the US to legitimise the Taliban and its protector Pakistan might help President Trump’s re-election campaign but is inimical to the global aim of defeating terrorism.