India's determination to strengthen its presence in Afghanistan, the linchpin of its renewed vision for Central Asia, will get another shot in the arm when it signs a Preferential Trading Arrangement (PTA) during the visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai from March 1. It’s already being called the Indian version of ‘‘kishmish diplomacy’’, with New Delhi agreeing to lower tariffs for Afghanistan’s dry fruits and nuts — an export that, unofficially, continued even during the Taliban years — which is expected to fill at least a few of Kabul’s empty coffers.Still, don't be fooled into thinking that the PTA is a normal trading arrangement between any two normal nations. New Delhi’s initiative is aimed at circumventing the obstacles posed by Pakistan, especially the denial of land transit, and recreating direct linkages with a nation after its nearly decade-long marginalisation under the Taliban. This hop, leap and jump across Pakistan, through the development of ports and roads both in Iran and Afghanistan, has the blessings of the mighty Americans — Karzai will be in the US for a day before he arrives here. But New Delhi has another card it continues to hold close to its chest: ‘‘Kishmish diplomacy’’ is going hand-in-hand with new moves to reach out to Afghanistan’s Pashtuns, a tribe that has traditionally held the levers of power, and which New Delhi was compelled to ignore during its partnership with the Tajik-Uzbek dominated Northern Alliance. Karzai is a Pashtun — which is one reason why he’s going to get such a red carpet welcome in Vajpayee’s ‘‘Dilli’’.Mahathir and the spirit of KashmirMalaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohammed may or may not want to acknowledge his Indian connection — his father was a native of Kerala’s Malabar coast — but he certainly wants the title role in the neverending drama called the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). With a NAM summit scheduled in Kuala Lumpur in less than a week, Mahathir is said to be busy readying himself for the part. Especially since Act II of the same script goes by the name of the ‘‘OIC conference’’, to be held in Kuala Lumpur later in October. Rumour is that Mahathir really wants to position himself as next in line for UN Secretary-General and that the Third World Vote must be the backbone of the blockbuster.Now one way for Mahathir to get the international press would be to do a Nelson Mandela (remember Mandela speaking on Kashmir at the last summit in 1998?) at NAM. But since that would invite the ire of India, Kuala Lumpur’s controlled press has instead gone and written stories about the need for Kashmir to be part of the NAM agenda — leading to High Commissioner Veena Sikri wagging her furious finger at the Foreign Office. Seems a group that calls itself ABIM (earlier associated with the disgraced Anwar Ibrahim, still in jail over official charges of sodomy), celebrated Kashmir Solidarity Day on February 5 along with the Pakistan High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. ABIM had the story reported in the press, along with the logo of the NAM Business Forum — which, incidentally, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee is going to address on Sunday — and even asked the youth wing of Mahathir’s United Malay Organisation to include Kashmir in a peace march to be held in Kuala Lumpur on the eve of the NAM summit.Clearly, there’s not going to be one dull moment all week in Malaysia.Not a matter of religionsIt was left to Israel’s former national security adviser Uzi Dayan — nephew of the more famous Moshe Dayan — to tell an Indian participant off at the recently held Track II seminar between New Delhi, Israel and the US. When one Indian security expert warbled on and on about the aggressive nature of Islam, Dayan said, ‘‘It is not a matter of religions.’’ Participants pointed out that the Israeli security expert was testimony to the danger of painting all of Israel in the same brush as that of Ariel Sharon. Still, the US delegation at the seminar had at least one interesting participant: Douane Claridge, who later set up the counter-terrorism centre for the CIA, but in 1971 was the CIA’s station chief in Calcutta. Under the influence and instruction of Richard Nixon’s then infamous ‘‘tilt’’ towards Pakistan, Claridge tried quite hard to sabotage the Mukti Bahini’s brave stand against the Pakistan army.At the New Delhi conference, Claridge was reminded about his past. He kept quiet at the mention.Strobe looks into his crystal ballThe erudite, sophisticated and liberal-minded Strobe Talbott, deputy secretary of state under Clinton, was quite the toast of Delhi’s elite over the last fortnight. Despite his Democratic credentials, the audience listened hard when Strobe spoke of the imminent US invasion of Iraq at numerous events. It was going to happen on March 5 at 3 am, said Strobe. The audience was transfixed by the intelligence report. Only much later, when Talbott was long gone, did someone remember to point out, ‘‘Was that IST or Washington standard time?
