Keeping friends

This refers to the article ‘Keeping friends’ (Apr 28) by Amjad Bashir Siddiqi. The writer is correct when he says that the US has absolutely no interest in peace in Afghanistan. It just wants to stay in the region – at the minimum cost possible – in order to keep an eye on China and Russia. After having attacked Iraq, Libya and Syria, its priority is now to destabilise nuclear Pakistan and Iran. We cannot say with certainty that the president of Afghanistan knows America’s exact intentions. But he can’t just ask the Americans to pack up and leave. This is because the US pays the cost of maintaining the Afghan Army and provides personal security to top Afghan officials.

What was missing from the article was an assessment of China’s role in this matter. China has financial, technical and military resources that can replace the US. But is moving rather cautiously. China can also help dig vast mineral wealth of Afghanistan. However, the country has made a start by agreeing to pay the cost of building a camp to house the Afghan military near its border with Afghanistan and also to pay the expenses of maintaining it. China also held a trilateral meeting with the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan in December last year. With the inclusion of Afghanistan in CPEC, the involvement of China in Afghanistan will only increase. And these all are the right moves.

S R H Hashmi

Karachi