India not to undertake fresh projects in Afghanistan

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

AM, why do you think that Pakistani government were so focussed on the strategic depth in Afghanistan for all these years?

You don't seem to see any value but the likes of Hamid Gul and Musharraf certainly saw some value there.

Vinod,

Read Blain's clarification on how Pakistan interpreted 'strategic depth'.

Pakistan wanted nothing different from what any other country in its situation would want.

Stability, development of the economic potential through linking with the CAR's, and pro-Pakistan government in a country that had historically allied itself with an extremely hostile neighbor in the East and harbored irredentist sentiment.

Hamid Gul has flapped his mouth about a lot of issues - not everything he says is an accurate articulation of Pakistan's policies, past or present.

 

[Vinod2070]

Thx. This is certainly different from what was the general opinion of the definition all along and is much more benign I will say.

 

[Neo]

AM, why do you think that Pakistani government were so focussed on the strategic depth in Afghanistan for all these years?

Our focus on Afghanistan is of dual purpose. During the Cold War the country fuctioned as a buffer between the Sovjet Union and Pakistan and Warm Waters of the Arabian Sea. Post Sovjet Invasion Era brought a lot of changes, Pakistan found herself in a difficult position of cleaning up the mess created by two Cold War Super Powers who cowerdly and hastly left the country to rot onces their objectives were met...Afghanistan still was waged in full civil war.

In adition to Blain and AM's excellent posts I think we should also take the ethnic element into consideration; a quarter of Pakistan's population is ethnically related to Afghanistan and whatever happens there affects us.
The country's been torn apart since mid seventies and brought back to stone age by the Sovjets. All these events left us with no other choice than to interfere inorder to secure our own borders. The latter us often misunderstood.

So its not about creating strategic depth but providing stability and security to all including Afghanistan.

You don't seem to see any value but the likes of Hamid Gul and Musharraf certainly saw some value there.

Hamid Gul is an A-hole, he's been compromised by his own believes and actions and lust for personal gain...he is talking bull. I'd take him with a pinch of salt...

 

[IceCold]

Moving assets to another country and that too in an event of war is never feasible. Take the example of Iraq, Iraqis were trying to move their assets to Iran and what happened all got destroyed on the way by the USAF. Any strategic assets of Pakistan are more safe in Pakistan then they ever will be in an another country. We have plenty of space in the mountainous Northern Western Pakistan, that we do not need it elsewhere. Also in an event of conflict will the PAF which will be heavily occupied by the much bigger IAF defend the air space over Pakistan or its assets in Afghanistan.