Post pullout, India crucial for Afghanistan economy: US

Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, said during a Congressional hearing that the US sees India as kind of an economic lynchpin for future of Afghanistan. Blake termed India as one of the most trusted and valuable partners of the US in the region, noting that “any discussion of South Asia has to start with India.”

Blake’s remarks assume significance in the backdrop of critical remarks by Hagel, who was shown in a video accusing India of “financing problems” in Afghanistan.

“We appreciate very much the significant role that India is playing in Afghanistan. In fact, we see India as kind of the economic lynchpin for future,” Blake told lawmakers during a hearing by Asia and the Pacific Sub-committee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

He noted that India will play an important role in the process of turning Afghanistan into a trade-based economy from an “aid-based economy” once the US spendings get scaled down after the withdrawal of troops in 2014.

“As our troops (and) their spending draws down, it’s going to be much more important now to establish a private-sector basis for the Afghan economy and to make a trade-based economy and not an aid-based economy. India is such an important role to play in that” said Blake.

The official, who was

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