Dear Neil,
Though present day India has no 'common border' with Afghanistan, this
region was culturally and economically very close to India during the
past two thousand years.We all grew up hearing the stories of Gandhari
(from Gandhara-present day Kandahar) who married the king of
Indraprastha ( present day Delhi)and the war between her sons and
their half brothers that form the basic theme of the epic
Mahabharata . The story of Kabuliwallah (The man from Kabul-a short
story by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)) continues to be retold here
again and again in dance dramas, films..As you may be aware, Hamid
Karzai had his University education in India.
Formation of Pakistan was a tragedy.The sooner we forget old wounds
and embrace each other, the better for both Indian and Pakistani
people. There were many times even recently, when better sense
prevailed and the war rhetoric was buried by both sides. However, many
interests are at work in both camps to keep these people -who eat the
same food, love the same music and the same films- at war always.
Persia (present day Iran) is also another place with long cultural and
economic ties with India. Till 1979, we used to have many students
from Iran-on Iranian Government scholarships- studying in our colleges.
(In my medical college,they used to sell us sports shoes brought from
home while back after a vacation..)
For some time, we used to hear about a pipeline carrying natural gas
from Iran to India through Pakistan-supplying Pakistan as well ('the
peace pipeline'). It would have been a great Idea-we would have a
reason to be friendly towards our Pakistani brothers. It seems US did
not like this, and the project is now all but dropped, I understand.
It is only natural that people from US-and even from Britain- can view
the relations between these four countries from a 'Western
perspective',( I know Neil to be an exception) but I hope they would
consider the possibility of other valid views as well.
Viswanathan
On Apr 2, 4:49 am, archytas <[email protected]> wrote:
> India is one of Karzai’s few remaining champions. Delhi sees the new
> Afghanistan as a part of its sphere of influence. It has four
> consulates in Afghanistan and has given its government $1.2 billion in
> aid: a remarkable sum for it to donate to a country that is 99 per
> cent Muslim and with which it has no common border. Delhi has also put
> up the new parliament building and chancery, and has helped to train
> the army. India’s most ambitious – and, for Pakistan, most alarming –
> Afghan project is a new highway that will provide a route to the
> Iranian port of Chabahar. Not only will Afghanistan no longer need to
> use Pakistani ports, the road’s destination is a clear indication of
> India’s intention to consolidate an alliance with Iran in western
> Afghanistan in order to counter Pakistan’s influence in eastern
> Afghanistan. The road network, as they see it, is a new way to fight
> an old war. It’s precisely in order to resist the India-Iran bloc – as
> well as the emerging axis between Delhi and Washington. We don't seem
> to be hearing very much about this. Any viwes from closer to the
> ground?
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