India-US Af-Pak initiative pushed back due to Covid-19

WASHINGTON: US defence secretary Mark Esper has put off a trip to India, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, scheduled for next week to help contain the spread of Covid-19 in America. Esper was due to visit the three countries from March 16-20 but he decided “to remain in the US to help manage the Department of Defence (DoD) response”, said Pentagon spokeswoman Alyssa Farah. She said Esper’s trip would now occur at a later date.

Esper’s proposed visit, close on the heels on the US President’s India trip, was aimed at dialogue on Af-Pak situation and expansion of defence partnership based on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-President Donald Trump summit.

Afghanistan would have dominated Esper’s discussions in both Delhi and Islamabad as the process entered a crucial phase following the signing of the US-Taliban deal, said people aware of the matter. The deal envisaged a host of measures, including release of thousands of prisoners by both sides of the conflict, intra-

Afghan dialogue and firm guarantees by the Taliban not to allow the Afghan soil to be used by terrorist groups.

Esper’s visit would have also helped take forward Indo-US defence partnership. Modi and Trump pledged at their February 25 summit to deepen defence and security cooperation, especially through greater maritime and space domain awareness and information sharing; joint cooperation; exchange of military liaison personnel and advanced training.