US Official (to be): "...India deeply involved in Afghanistan & Balochistan..."

In the Times of India/ here

"Christine Fair, .... is likely to be appointed deputy assistant secretary for South Asia soon, a prospect that is already raising eyebrows here, despite her evident familiarity with the region and the complex dynamics of the India-Pakistan relationship.... 

A scholar on South Asia, Fair has written extensively on Pakistan. In fact, she has spent a lot more time on Pakistan than on India. But when she has focused on India, Fair has often barked up the wrong tree. For instance, after the Mumbai attacks, she was quoted in international media as saying, "There's absolutely nothing Al Qaida-like about it. Did you see any suicide bombers? And there are no fingerprints of Lashkar. They don't do hostage taking, and they don't do grenades." 

However, on Iran, Fair has dissected India's relationship on a broad canvas. Writing about India's strategic relationship with that country, Fair suggested in a 2007 report that India should make itself relevant to US strategic interests by helping Iran join the mainstream rather than be a meaningful alternative to Tehran. It was a report that found huge resonance in the US Congress particularly during the debate on the nuclear deal. 

Earlier this year, Fair's comment that India was deeply involved in Afghanistan went down well in Pakistan. "I think it is unfair to dismiss the notion that Pakistan's apprehensions about Afghanistan stem in part from its security competition with India... Having visited the Indian mission in Zahedan, Iran, I can assure you they are not issuing visas as the main activity. Moreover, India has run operations from its mission in Mazar and is likely doing so from the other consulates it has reopened in Jalalabad and Qandahar along the (Pak-Afghan) border," Fair had said. 

She even quoted Indian officials as telling her that India was involved in Balochistan. "Indian officials have told me privately that they are pumping money into Balochistan."