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China Reaches Out to India on Afghanistan

For the first time, India and China have met to discuss the future of Afghanistan, in light of the impending departure of Western forces from the nation.  In this Issue Perspective, Dr. Harsh Pant discusses China’s new interest in developing a regional approach, after years of relying on a “hands-off policy.”

As President Obama’s 2014 deadline to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan approaches, India and China both recognize that they also have much at stake. In this regard, as Dr. Pant notes, a dialogue between Asia’s two rising powers on this subject is certainly “worth pursuing.”