Afghan regional solution may be too little, too late

LONDON (Reuters) - A renewed push for a regional solution to Afghanistan bringing on board bitter rivals India and Pakistan may be too little, too late to achieve results in time for Washington''s 2011 deadline for drawing down troops.

"Afghanistan has for far too long ... been the ground on which regional powers have essentially exercised or fought out some of their tensions by backing different groups against each other ..." British ambassador to Kabul Mark Sedwill said.

"That has to stop. The Great Game is over and Afghanistan has to be become a point of stability within the region," he said, while briefing reporters on the January 28 conference bringing together representatives from more than 50 countries.

But any easing of India-Pakistan rivalry -- an essential part of any broader regional approach -- is likely to happen too slowly for the timetable set by President Barack Obama.

Washington''s need to achieve results in Afghanistan by 2011 is at odds with the longer-term clock followed by India and Pakistan, said Steve Coll at the New America Foundation.

The tense relationship between the two has kept the Pakistan Army focused on its eastern border with India rather than fighting militants on the western border with Afghanistan.

Pakistan is also seen as unwilling to tackle the Afghan Taliban, believing it might need them to counter India''s growing influence in Afghanistan in the event of a U.S. withdrawal.

"My sense is that the administration feels stymied by India''s continued insistence that it does not want any outside help and the frustratingly slow pace by which India and Pakistan are trying (to find a way back to negotiations)," said Coll.

"The U.S. doesn''t seem to be able to construct a breakthrough."

FROM KASHMIR TO KABUL

During Obama''s election campaign, analysts spoke of the need for a "grand bargain" which included India and Pakistan making enough progress on their dispute over Kashmir to build the trust needed to allay their suspicions in the Afghan front.