New Delhi is abuzz over Blackwill’s quiet trip to Kabul

Although Blackwill’s new beat in the White House doesn’t directly include either India or Pakistan, observers pointed out that with New Delhi’s increasing stakes in Kabul as well as Baghdad—possibly as part of a UN-mandated force along the lines of the International Security and Assistance Force in Kabul—he would continue to keep in touch with India.

Blackwill is said to have met Afghan president Hamid Karzai, Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Commerce Minister Sayed Kazemi.

Interestingly, as the second anniversary of 9/11 approaches, two of America’s foremost allies in the war against terrorism, Afghanistan and Pakistan, are in grave danger of falling out.

Over the last month, General Pervez Musharraf and Karzai have exchanged bitter words, with Kabul publicly accusing Islamabad of crossing the Durand Line and grabbing Afghan territory as well as supporting the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

In turn, Musharraf and his Cabinet have in recent days more than once criticised India’s missions in Kandahar and Jalalabad, close to the Afghan-Pakistan border, of deliberately fomenting trouble in the region.

Blackwill’s secret visit to Kabul comes on the heels of Washington’s decision to replace its ambassador in Kabul with Zalmay Khalilzad, Bush’s high-profile special envoy on Afghanistan and Iraq. Khalilzad is in Kabul ready to take over from Robert Finn, who is already making his last calls.

‘‘Every effort has to be made by Pakistan not to allow its territory to be used by Taliban elements. This should not be allowed,’’ Khalilzad told reporters in Kabul on July 15.

In fact, Blackwill’s publicly stated views in India that ‘‘cross-border terrorism against India must completely end,’’ finds its echoes by US military officials on the ground in Bagram as well as on the Afghan-Pakistan border.