News & Views

In a carefully framed diplomatic formulation, India's External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has warned of "devastating consequences" if the United States and Pakistan failed to heal their rift. Krishna chose to speak in the presence of the visiting French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe at their joint press conference in New Delhi. France just pulled out the first batch of 200 troops from Afghanistan as part of its withdrawal plans. Krishna said: This concerns the relationship between two friendly powers - the US and Pakistan - and it is India's desire that all outstanding issues between the two countries should be settled across the table and thereby, create a situation in the region which will be conducive for the development. Because, anything which upsets the region will have devastating consequences on the developmental agenda of other countries and, more particularly, India. So, we sincerely hope that they will be able to solve their differences. This is the nearest India has gone to imply that the US's regional strategies are not invariably or necessarily always working in the interests of regional security and stability.