Modi's US visit to send key signals to Pakistan

New Delhi: In the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second visit to Afghanistan, the assessment in South Block is that India has succeeded in getting the Afghan Government out of the Pakistani orbit of influence.

Observers feel while India is now seen as a de-facto US ally, the gains of being on the right side of the world’s sole superpower will work towards New Delhi’s advantage.

The recent visit to Iran-on which western sanctions were recently lifted — and the Chabahar agreement — appears to have cemented what is being seen as a formidable India-Iran-Afghanistan axis.

But it is Mr Modi’s forthcoming fourth visit to the US in less than two years that has sent clear signals to Islamabad. Sources said recent drone strikes on Pakistani soil has also unnerved the Pakistan Army.  Mr Modi’s two-day visit to the US and his forthcoming address to the joint session of the US Congress has apparently convinced the Generals in Rawalpindi that Islamabad can only turn to China for help.