Notes

-demanded that Pakistan’s support to cross-border terror “will have to change” and “change immediately
-sceptics would wonder if Washington has the political will to carry through the promised pressure on Pakistan to stop hosting terror sanctuaries on its soil, because there are large sections of the US deep state that caution against a radical shift in US policy towards Pakistan.
+While scepticism is healthy, cynicism that ignores the changes taking place in the US regional policy is not. After all, Trump has said something about Pakistan in public that his predecessors were not willing to.
+It is equally important for Delhi to note the shift in Washington’s thinking on the Indian role in Afghanistan. Until recently, Washington believed that India’s rivalry with Pakistan is part of the problem in Afghanistan. Today Trump might be betting that by invoking a larger Indian role in Afghanistan, he might add to the pressures on Pakistan to cooperate with the US.
=While India must prepare for the possibility of the US slipping back to its old ways on Pakistan, Delhi’s current emphasis must be on taking advantage of the Trump discontinuity in the American policy towards the Subcontinent. A positive Indian approach would involve three elements — economic, security and diplomatic
=For one, India must ramp up its economic diplomacy in Afghanistan to bring immediate benefits to Kabul amidst the deteriorating conditions in the country. Second, Delhi must step up security cooperation with Afghanistan, especially in the training of its police and armed forces and intelligence sharing. Third, on the diplomatic front, India must counter the emerging argument that Trump’s new approach will intensify the “Indo-Pak rivalry” in Afghanistan and the old one that Kashmir holds the key to peace in Afghanistan.
-Delhi must remind the world of India’s commitment to regional cooperation with Afghanistan and Pakistan, in an atmosphere free of terrorism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had articulated this vision in an address to the Afghan parliament on December 25, 2015.
-Trump’s new Afghan strategy could be a potential game-changer for South Asia or a brief exception to the familiar pattern of US-Pak relations. While recognising the potential shadow between Trump’s words and deeds, Delhi must bet on its own activism that can influence future outcomes in Afghanistan.