Washington: Amidst indications emerging of
Pakistan-based LeT`s involvement in the attack on Indians in
Kabul, the top US envoy for the region today cautioned against
jumping to conclusions, saying Indian facility was not the
target.
"In regard to this attack, I don`t accept the fact
that this was an attack on an Indian facility like the
(Indian) embassy. They were foreigners, non-Indian foreigners
hurt. It was a soft target. Let`s not jump to conclusions,"
Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard
Holbrooke told reporters at a news briefing here.
Holbrooke was responding to a question regarding a
terrorist attack at a Kabul hotel in which six Indians were
killed.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has termed it as an
attack on Indians. However, the US officials said it is too
early to arrive at a conclusion.
"I understand why everyone in Pakistan and everyone in
India always focuses on the other. But please, let`s not draw
a conclusion for which there`s no proof," Holbrooke said.
However, a spokesman for Afghanistan`s intelligence
service was quoted as saying that his agency has evidence that
Pakistanis, specifically Lashkar-e-Taiba, were involved in the
attacks on February 26.
Holbrooke, however, noted that both India and Pakistan
have an interest in Afghanistan.
"This is my own personal feeling about these three
countries Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The three
countries are vastly different in culture, socioeconomic
standing, political development but they share a common
strategic space," he said, adding that in order to understand
America`s policy and America`s policy dilemma, one has to
understand that both India and Pakistan have legitimate
security interests in the region.
"I am not talking about that certain area between them
which I am not going to mention by name, because I am not
going to get involved in that," Holbrooke said in an apparent
mention to Kashmir.
"People who have advocated that are making a proposal
which I believe runs counter to stability in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan must be dealt with on its merits," he argued.
Holbrooke stressed that both countries have legitimate
security interests.
"If one country says the other has no interest, then
it`s hard to have a dialogue. That`s why (US) President
(Barack) Obama has said we encourage any sort of dialogue
between the two countries, and Afghanistan is not the core of
the issue, but it is a part of the issue," he said.
"The other issues I would mention that are very
critical are water. Water is a huge issue here, and
increasingly on our trips, people in both countries talk about
water and overall security relationships. Other issues have
arisen continually," he said.
Noting that the US has good relations with both India
and Pakistan; Holbrooke said: "It is our view that it is in
our national interest to improve relations with both
countries, not at the expense of the other.
"It is not improved relations with one country are
not at the expense of the other; on the contrary. By improving
relations in both countries, we can move forward a general
search for peace and stability in the region."
Later at the daily State Department news briefing,
Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley
said the United States is encouraged that India and Pakistan
have restarted their dialogue.
"They are neighbours... share the same strategic
space. So we will continue to talk to both countries and
encourage the very kind of dialogue we saw in recent days," he
said.
"It is really for India and Pakistan to establish the
kind of dialogue we think is in the long-term interest of
both countries," Crowley said.
PTI
