Terrorism from outside the main challenge for Afghans: Hamid Karzai

NEW DELHI: Stressing that terrorism perpetrated and supported from "outside" is the main challenge for Afghanistan, its former President Hamid Karzai today criticized dualism in American policy towards Pakistan saying he had told Barack Obama that US should not run with the hare and hunt with the hound.

Karzai also asked New Delhi "to do more" in defence cooperation with Afghanistan and hoped that New Delhi will adopt a "more proactive" policy in the future.

He said India and China should join hands to fight extremism in the region.

The former Afghan President rued that he had made 20 trips to Pakistan but was unable to succeed completely in improving ties with that country, which he has often accused of promoting terror in Afghanistan.

When asked about his earlier comment on asking a house owner to catch a thief and leaving the door open for the thief while describing US policy on Pakistan, Karzai, who was speaking at a leadership summit here, said it was a Persian proverb and there was a similar meaning English proverb of "running with the hare and hunting with the hound".

"That is what I believed they did and that is what they should not be doing," he said.

Asked if he had conveyed the same to the US, Karzai said he had told American President Obama during a video conference and the response he got was "silence".

"We moved to other subjects," he quipped. Karzai said US should have gone after the terror sanctuaries in Pakistan.

Thanking India for the continued support to his country, Karzai said, "we need India to do more as to engage in bringing stronger capacity to the Afghan forces, Afghan military".

He said India is well suited to train Afghan officers and civil services.

"India is also industrially, in terms of production of military equipment, well placed to fulfill Afghanistan's need and India now has the ability to do that," he said.