Will Heart of Asia bypass Pak artery in Amritsar?

Will India-Pakistan tensions hijack the agenda of an international conference on Afghanistan? That is the question agitating the minds of delegates who started arriving in Amritsar for the two-day Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process, which began on Saturday.

India was scrambling to insulate the talks about rebuilding Afghanistan -- via trade and connectivity, development assistance, and security cooperation – after Pakistan Foreign Affairs and Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz landed here in on Saturday evening, ahead of his scheduled arrival on Sunday morning.

Whether Aziz's engagements before he returns home on Sunday will go beyond the customary handshakes and photo-ops to informal, unstructured contacts with Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his aides is the subject of animated discussions on the margins of the Afghan conference.

The symbolism of Aziz's visit is not lost on key world capitals, coming as it does soon after the terrorist attack on an Indian Army installation at Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir, which was only the latest in a series of attacks that have rocked Jammu and Kashmir, starting with the attack on the Pathankot air base in January this year. This was followed by the September 18 attack on an Indian Army camp at Uri, which claimed the lives of 19 soldiers, among others.

This is the third time in as many years that India is hosting world leaders or multilateral summits outside New Delhi. The choice of Amritsar as the venue of the Afghan conference is in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's desire to take summitry outside the cloistered confines of New Delhi.

In 2014, Modi received President Xi Jinping of China in Gujarat. In October this year, India hosted the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit in Goa.

India's decision to host the Afghanistan conference is being interpreted by some around the world as a deliberate move to underscore how Pakistan has consistently blocked connectivity in this region. It is also about terrorism and New Delhi and Kabul seem to have a plan to further embarrass Islamabad.

Of late, India has not lost any opportunity to diplomatically isolate Pakistan, be it the G-20 Summit in China, the East-Asia Summit in Vietnam, the United Nations General Assembly or the cancelled South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit. Amritsar also has a historical significance to it. It is a key location on the Grand Trunk Road, one of the longest and oldest roads in Asia connecting Central Asia with South Asia.

The GT Road was rebuilt and upgraded by Sher Shah Suri, then ruler of Delhi, nearly 500 years ago. Suri was of Afghan origin. The road links Kabul to Kolkata via Lahore, Amritsar and Delhi, and all the way up to Chittagong in Bangladesh.

India and Afghanistan have given enough notice that they will try and corner their common neighbour for providing sanctuary and support to terrorist groups. The Amritsar conference can be expected to delve into specifics and identify ways to deal with terrorism and terror threats and also detail what steps should be taken against those who support and glorify terrorists.

Afghanistan may demand binding clauses to contain terror infrastructure. It is pushing for the early adoption of a Regional Counter-Terrorism Framework. New Delhi and Kabul are also toying with plans to firm up an air cargo agreement to boost bilateral trade even as Pakistan continues to stall all possibility of promoting regional trade and connectivity.

• This is the sixth edition of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process.
• The first was held at Istanbul in Turkey in 2011.
• Nearly 50 countries and organisations, including the UN, are participating in the Amritsar summit.
• The theme of the Amritsar Summit is "Addressing Challenges and Achieving Prosperity."
   
• At least eight foreign ministers, including Sartaj Aziz of Pakistan and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, are attending the summit.