New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran on Saturday said Pakistan has been unable to leverage the change in regime in Afghanistan which has turned out to be a bigger threat than it perceives from India.
Saran said China too has not benefited from the ascendance of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan as it has not received the cooperation it had expected from Kabul in dealing with the situation in East Turkestan.
“The change in regime in Afghanistan has not brought the kind of diplomatic gains or strategic gains that the Pakistani may have anticipated. Today Afghanistan is a bigger threat to them than they perceive from India,” he said in an interaction with the media at the Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC).
He recalled that Pakistan had supported the return of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, contending that it could not have an unfriendly government in Kabul.
Saran said neither Pakistan has recognised the Taliban regime nor has it persuaded China to do so.
“These are pointers to the situation being far more complex than what may have been anticipated,” he said, adding that Pakistan was hoping to play the role of a facilitator for China to make inroads in Afghanistan.
Saran noted that India has historical and cultural links with Afghanistan that go beyond the Pakistan prism and would play an important role in any credible Central Asian policy New Delhi may pursue.
The former foreign secretary said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s call for peace with India could have been an opening to reset the relations with Islamabad.
“But, Pakistan quickly moved back on that,” he said, adding that India had a good reason to be cautious when dealing with Islamabad.
Saran said there were a number of instances when the two sides had taken a step forward for the betterment of relations, only to be sabotaged by “certain elements” in Pakistan. PTI SKU RT RT
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.