(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 26, 2009: The portfolio of the new US envoy Richard Holbrooke includes India even though his title – envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan – does not indicate so, says US Gen. David Petraeus. 
Members of Code Pink protest as Commander of the U.S. Central Command Gen. David Petraeus testifies during a hearing before the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill April 24, 2009 in Washington, DC. The hearing was focused on base posture and supplemental request of the central command.
The general, who commands American forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan as the US Central Command chief, also emphasised the need to address the Kashmir dispute, saying that a reduction in tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir would help the fight against extremists. ‘There are people who have rightly said that Ambassador Holbrooke's title should be Afghan, Pakistan and India,’ Gen. Petraeus told a subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations.
‘Now, let me just tell you, his portfolio very much includes India and, in fact, the Central Asian states and the other neighbours there.’
The general’s comments are bound to irk New Delhi which refuses to accept any international mediation in its relations with other South Asian nations.
India is particularly sensitive to third party mediation in its disputes with Pakistan and has rejected all previous offers to help resolve the Kashmir issue that has plagued relations between South Asia’s two nuclear states for more than 60 years.
When President Obama announced that he plans to appoint a special envoy for South Asia, the Indian government lobbied successfully to keep India out of the new envoy’s portfolio.
Gen. Petraeus’s remarks, however, indicate that while the word India has been dropped from Ambassador Holbrooke’s title, his functions include consulting India on all major issues, as he has been doing since his appointment.
But Mr Holbrooke has made it clear that he is not going to mediate between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute.
Gen. Petraeus, however, observed that if the international community could resolve the Kashmir dispute or reduce the tensions generated by this issue, Pakistan would have had a greater focus on fighting the extremists on its western border.
‘If you could resolve that conundrum or even reduce the tensions; that could contribute to an ability to focus more intellectually as well as just sheer forces physically on the internal extremist threat,’ he said.
‘It is very important to reduce the tensions between India and Pakistan so that Pakistan can both intellectually and physically focus on the most pressing threat to their existence, which is the internal extremist threat, rather than the traditional threat of India.’
The general said that the need to reduce tensions between the two South Asian neighbours becomes clearer when an observer looks at the number of their forces tied up on the Indian border, and at the percentage of their defence budget devoted to the standoff.
Underlining the importance of keeping India involved in US efforts to defeat extremist forces in the South Asian region, Gen. Petraeus noted that Ambassador Holbrooke's first trip to the region didn't include just Afghanistan and Pakistan. He then continued on into India.
Members of Code Pink protest as Commander of the U.S. Central Command Gen. David Petraeus testifies during a hearing before the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill April 24, 2009 in Washington, DC. The hearing was focused on base posture and supplemental request of the central command.
The general, who commands American forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan as the US Central Command chief, also emphasised the need to address the Kashmir dispute, saying that a reduction in tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir would help the fight against extremists. ‘There are people who have rightly said that Ambassador Holbrooke's title should be Afghan, Pakistan and India,’ Gen. Petraeus told a subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations.
‘Now, let me just tell you, his portfolio very much includes India and, in fact, the Central Asian states and the other neighbours there.’
The general’s comments are bound to irk New Delhi which refuses to accept any international mediation in its relations with other South Asian nations.
India is particularly sensitive to third party mediation in its disputes with Pakistan and has rejected all previous offers to help resolve the Kashmir issue that has plagued relations between South Asia’s two nuclear states for more than 60 years.
When President Obama announced that he plans to appoint a special envoy for South Asia, the Indian government lobbied successfully to keep India out of the new envoy’s portfolio.
Gen. Petraeus’s remarks, however, indicate that while the word India has been dropped from Ambassador Holbrooke’s title, his functions include consulting India on all major issues, as he has been doing since his appointment.
But Mr Holbrooke has made it clear that he is not going to mediate between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute.
Gen. Petraeus, however, observed that if the international community could resolve the Kashmir dispute or reduce the tensions generated by this issue, Pakistan would have had a greater focus on fighting the extremists on its western border.
‘If you could resolve that conundrum or even reduce the tensions; that could contribute to an ability to focus more intellectually as well as just sheer forces physically on the internal extremist threat,’ he said.
‘It is very important to reduce the tensions between India and Pakistan so that Pakistan can both intellectually and physically focus on the most pressing threat to their existence, which is the internal extremist threat, rather than the traditional threat of India.’
The general said that the need to reduce tensions between the two South Asian neighbours becomes clearer when an observer looks at the number of their forces tied up on the Indian border, and at the percentage of their defence budget devoted to the standoff.
Underlining the importance of keeping India involved in US efforts to defeat extremist forces in the South Asian region, Gen. Petraeus noted that Ambassador Holbrooke's first trip to the region didn't include just Afghanistan and Pakistan. He then continued on into India.
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