'I don't think Kabul attack was targeted at Indian facility'

Amidst indications emerging of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba's involvement in the attack on Indians in Kabul, the top United States envoy for the region on Wednesday cautioned against jumping to conclusions, saying Indian facility was not the target.

"In regard to this attack, I don't accept the fact that this was an attack on an Indian facility like the (Indian) embassy. They were foreigners, non-Indian foreigners hurt. It was a soft target. Let's not jump to conclusions," Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke told mediapersons at a news briefing in Washington, DC.

Holbrooke was responding to a question regarding a terrorist attack at a Kabul hotel in which six Indians were killed.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has termed it as an attack on Indians. However, the US officials said it is too early to arrive at a conclusion.

"I understand why everyone in Pakistan and everyone in India always focuses on the other. But please, let's not draw a conclusion for which there's no proof," Holbrooke said.

However, a spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence service was quoted as saying that his agency has evidence that Pakistanis, specifically the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, were involved in the attacks on February 26.

Holbrooke, however, noted that both India and Pakistan have an interest in Afghanistan.

"This is my own personal feeling about these three countries -- Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The three countries are vastly different in culture, socioeconomic standing, political development, and -- but they share a common strategic space," he said, adding that in order to understand America's policy and America's policy dilemma, one has to understand that both India and Pakistan have legitimate security interests in the region.

"I am not talking about that certain area between them which I am not going to mention by name, because I am not going to get involved in that," Holbrooke said in an apparent mention to Kashmir.

"People who have advocated that are making a proposal which I believe runs counter to stability in Afghanistan. Afghanistan must be dealt with on its merits," he argued.

"If one country says the other has no interest, then it's hard to have a dialogue. That's why (US) President (Barack) Obama has said we encourage any sort of dialogue between the two countries, and Afghanistan is not the core of the issue, but it is a part of the issue," he said.

"The other issues I would mention that are very critical are water -- water is a huge issue here, and increasingly on our trips, people in both countries talk about water -- and overall security relationships. Other issues have arisen continually," he said.

Noting that the US has good relations with both India and Pakistan; Holbrooke said, "It is our view that it is in our national interest to improve relations with both countries, not at the expense of the other."

"It is not -- improved relations with one country are not at the expense of the other; on the contrary. By improving relations in both countries, we can move forward a general search for peace and stability in the region," Holbrooke said.

Later at the daily State Department news briefing, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley said the United States is encouraged that India and Pakistan have restarted their dialogue.

"They are neighbours... share the same strategic space. So we will continue to talk to both countries and encourage the very kind of dialogue we saw in recent days," he said.

"It is really for India and Pakistan to establish the kind of dialogue we think is in the long-term interest of both countries," Crowley said.

Image: Richard Holbrooke