Summary:
U.S.
President Donald Trump’s unexpected letter to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking help and support for the American initiative to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan by bringing the Taliban on the negotiating table has baffled the diplomatic observers in New Delhi.
By Dinesh Sharma
.
The war in Afghanistan is now longer than that in Vietnam.
But the inability of the Kabul Government to defeat the Taliban insurgents notwithstanding the presence of the western troops led by the U.S.
has created a state of stalemate.
The Afghan conflict has turned into a quagmire for the U.S.
The problem for the U.S.
is that it cannot leave Afghanistan unless the insurgency comes to end either through military action or negotiations.
If the western troops leave Afghanistan without a solution, the collapse of the government would become inevitable.
Washington had realized early on that more than the Taliban Pakistan was real problem.