From an interview with Hamid Mir of Geo TV of Pakistan

A lot of Pakistani media approves of the army's support for the Haqqani network as a counterbalance to Indian influence in Afghanistan. Isn't this playing with fire like America did with Osama?

We must differentiate between India and America. As far as my experience goes, India is very popular in Afghanistan, especially in Kabul and north Afghanistan. A majority of Afghans don't like America despite the fact that the US is giving them a lot of aid. They see the US as an invader. As a journalist I cannot deny the feeling for Indians is completely different. Indians are building their parliament building, their roads. There is a huge Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul, there are big buses gifted by India. India has a traditional role in Afghanistan. Just because the Pakistan government doesn't like India's presence there, I will not endorse that. I am a frequent visitor to Afghanistan and have many friends there. They all say we hate the US but we cannot hate India. For argument's sake I tell them India is becoming a strategic partner of America so what will you do if America allows India to establish its bases in Afghanistan against Pakistan and China? They say we won't allow that but Indians are different from Americans.

Afghanistan is a big learning centre for Indians and Pakistanis — the so-called intellectuals, writers, policy thinkers who attend big international conferences. They go to Delhi and Islamabad, but the trouble is they don't go to Kabul and Kandahar.

India and Pakistan should not fight a proxy war in Afghanistan. Instead we can use Afghanistan to start a new relationship. We cannot start that relationship from Kashmir but we can start it from there. The governments in Islamabad and Delhi must understand that ordinary people are not willing to accept their policies. They are already running joint business ventures. There are many hotels and construction companies where Indians and Pakistanis are working together. Our governments may not be willing to cooperate in Afghanistan but what about the restaurant owner in Afghanistan whose chef is Pakistani, whose security guard is Indian and whose waiters are Pakistanis?

These Pakistanis and Indians are very clever. They are even collaborating with the Taliban. There are more than 20 provinces in the south and east where the Taliban run their own governments. When Indian contractors get a road project in these regions, they use Pakistani labour to negotiate with the local Afghan Taliban commander. The commander asks for a two or three percent cut and becomes the security force of that project. The project gets completed, everyone goes away happy. If the Americans leave and there are only European countries, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia left in Afghanistan, they can talk to the Afghan Taliban. I don't think there will be a big problem. Money is a big technology which Indians and Pakistanis can use in Afghanistan, but this a technology only Indians and Pakistanis can use. The Americans cannot use it (laughs).