Building Peace in Afghanistan

At the six-party meeting held in Moscow recently, India and China along with other participating countries attempted to reach an agreement over the contentious issue of peace-building in Afghanistan. Expressing concerns over terror activities, India offered developmental support to Afghanistan and opposed China’s push to initiate talks with the Afghan Taliban as a prelude to peacemaking. The two regional powers continue to be at loggerheads over a series of bilateral issues. Owing to the nations’ growing influence, in a lot of ways, the future of Asia Pacific will be shaped by how Sino-Indian relations evolve. Afghanistan is fast becoming the center of an emerging conflict of interest since the two regional giants have adopted starkly disparate positions on the Afghan issue.

Beyond having tense bilateral relations because both seek to expand their individual spheres of influence, the rift between India and China is also exacerbated by a mutually felt unease about having the other side seem as the more ‘responsible’ regional power. Hence, geopolitical concerns are not alone driving bilateral negotiations—perhaps a more subtle compulsion to maintain relative standing in the international community is also an equally important factor for India and China.

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