India is anxious about state of affairs in Afghanistan, says Pentagon

“As I’m sure you’re aware, they (Indians) are concerned about the situation in Afghanistan. They’re concerned about the intersection between instability there and their counterterrorism concerns,” Colin H Kahl, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, advised members of the Senate Armed Services Committee throughout a listening to on Afghanistan, South and Central Asia Security.
“They (Indians) want to work with us on those issues, sharing intelligence, cooperating where we can,” he stated, including that there’s a great convergence between US and Indian nationwide pursuits proper now

“It provides a lot of opportunity for us to cooperate with India, not just on Afghanistan and counterterrorism, but on broader regional security questions, in the Indian Ocean and as it relates to the broader Indo-Pacific,” Kahl stated.
He was responding to a query from Senator Gary Peters.
“India’s policies towards Afghanistan have been conceived largely through the lens of competition and proxy conflict with Pakistan. So it stands to reason that New Delhi should be no less concerned about the possibility that a Taliban government could benefit anti-Indian terrorist groups, especially those oriented towards Kashmir,” he stated.

“In view of our commitment to joint cooperation and interoperability with this critical partner, and the fact that India is the only designated major defence partner of the United States, I believe it’s important for us to understand how its view towards Afghanistan has and will evolve,” Peters stated.
Earlier this month, Kahl had co-chaired a US-India Defense Policy Group assembly.
Responding to a different query from Senator Jack Reed, Kahl stated Pakistan is a difficult actor, however it doesn’t need Afghanistan to be a secure haven for terrorist assaults or exterior assaults.
“They continue to give us access to Pakistani airspace and we’re in conversations about keeping that airspace open and happy to talk about that more in the closed session. But for right now, counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan is pretty good,” he stated.

“Our inability across multiple administrations to effectively deal with Pakistan is another example of the past being prologue. Managing the security relationship with Pakistan will remain important as we seek to successfully implement a regional counterterrorism strategy with other partners and allies,” Reed stated.
“That is why it is vitally important for us to reflect upon and study the entirety of the 20-year mission in Afghanistan,” he added.