Analysts say Trump's Afghan policy opportunity for India

Trump laid out his South Asia policy yesterday, saying a "critical part" of it was to develop US' strategic ties with India and called out Pakistan for supporting terrorist groups.

Bharath Gopalaswamy, director of the South Asia Centre, said the call for a larger Indian role in Afghanistan means the US wants New Delhi's greater economic involvement in the war-torn country.

Gopalaswamy said the new strategy also "gives India an opportunity to work with the US to determine what kind of Afghanistan it wants to see".

India is a key security and economic partner of the US, he said.

Trump had cited India's "billions of dollar in trade with US" as one of the reasons why New Delhi should step up its economic and development assistance to Afghanistan.

Gopalaswamy said India was already involved in development projects such as building dams and parliament in Afghanistan.

But, he added, Trump has "challenged" India to take a bigger role in Afghanistan than it currently has.

Sadanand Dhume, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, described the new strategy as a welcome step. "India should welcome being called out as a US partner in Afghanistan. This is a clear signal that Washington will no longer pay much heed to Islamabad's sensitivities, and Afghanistan is vital to India's broader security interests too," he told.