Russian Diplomat on Pakistan, India And Afghanistan

The attempts on the part of certain Pakistani circles to play "the Afghan card" in respect of India troubles Russia and other members of the anti-terrorist coalition, Russia's 1st Deputy Foreign Minister and co-Chairman of the Russian-US Working Group for Combating Terrorism Vyacheslav Trubnikov said in a RIA Novosti interview.

"Islamabad is paying too much attention to development of links between Karzai's administration and India," said the diplomat. "India and Afghanistan have a traditionally good and well-developed relationship, so there is nothing unusual about the fact that India is trying to participate in the economic recovery of Afghanistan and does it in a consistent and very transparent manner." According to his words, Pakistan is taking measures that cannot but worry the current Afghan administration headed by Hamid Karzai. It is the placing of Pakistani posts on the so-called Durand Line, which Afghanistan has refused to recognize, that arouses the deepest apprehension. "You may look at Pakistan's intentions from different angles. This can be regarded as an attempt to establish the border de facto in accordance with the Durand Line, or as an attempt to put pressure to bear on the Karzai administration to make it place Pakistani interests above the interests of other members of the antiterrorist coalition and Afghanistan's neighbors," Trubnikov told RIA Novosti.