Sunday, Apr 27, 2003
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By Vladimir Radyuhin
"Pakistan is advancing its border posts to the so-called Durand line, which was never recognised by Afghanistan," Russia's First Deputy Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, said in an interview. "This could be an attempt either to move the (Pakistani) border to the Durand line or to bring pressure on the (Afghanistan's President Khamid) Karzai administration to accommodate Pakistan's interests ahead of the interests other members of the anti-terror coalition and Afghanistan's neighbours." Mr. Trubnikov, who co-chairs the Indo-Russian Joint Working Group on Afghanistan, told the RIA-Novosti government agency on Saturday that Islamabad was unduly jealous of the Karzai government's close interaction with India. "India has maintained traditionally good and well-developed relations with Afghanistan," the Russian diplomat said. "No wonder that India wants to participate in the economic revival of Afghanistan and does it in a consistent and perfectly transparent way. "That is why attempts by certain quarters in Pakistan to play the Afghanistan card in their game against India are already causing concern not only in Russia, but also among other members of the anti-terrorist coalition," Mr. Trubnikov said. His interview was published on the day the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, left for Tajikistan for a meeting of the Russia-led defence pact of post-Soviet republics. The Russian diplomat called for maintaining "military and political pressure" on the Taliban. "The Taliban are actively regrouping their forces in Afghanistan. The Taliban remain a force that calls for the West's constant attention and unrelenting military and political pressure against them." Mr. Trubnikov said the anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan had not been very effective so far, allowing the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda to adjust and launch guerrilla warfare. "The situation is particularly alarming in Afghanistan's southern and south-eastern regions next to Pakistan," he said.
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