Although the drawdown of NATO forces in Afghanistan is well under way, there remain many uncertainties about the post-2014 situation.

The presence and role of the US military and private security contractors, the outcome of the presidential election in April and the consequences of the Taliban's opposition to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif aiding the reconciliation process are just a few of the uncertainties.

In the event, the only certainty appears to be uncertainty over the peace-building process taking off as planned to bring about reconciliation and cooperation of those involved in Afghanistan.

However, "reconciliation and cooperation of countries in the region" of South Asia not only refers to stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan for peace-building, but is also a euphemism for India and Pakistan joining hands in and with Afghanistan.

Both India and Pakistan have high stakes in Afghanistan. Both want to maintain their political, economic and security presence in Afghanistan.

India's security interests demand that it ramp up not only its presence, but also its capability to protect Indians and Indian-associated bodies on a permanent basis.

Afghanistan has also always been vital to Pakistan's security. Pakistan also fears that under cover of reinforcing its security, India would strive to emerge as the preeminent political and economic power in Afghanistan; and, this is a pursuit that Pakistan has to thwart.

Given this rivalry between India and Pakistan, and their opposition to one gaining at the expense of the other in Afghanistan, trilateral cooperation would appear to be a chimera. Yet the benefits flowing from cooperation could be significant and substantial; and, serve their security as well as economic interests.

India would like to develop Afghanistan as a transit point between Central Asia and South Asia. For example, stability in Afghanistan can hasten the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, and turn Pakistan into an energy grid that feeds the demand of not only India but also the whole of South Asia and China, too. Similarly, exploiting the potential of the Gwadar port requires peace in the region.

Increased economic cooperation and trade would mean cheaper goods, new markets, better infrastructure, faster development, better flow and management of energy, and more people traffic. These would make it possible for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to join hands against common security threats such as terrorism, which affect all three countries.

Doubtless, the key to trilateral cooperation is improved bilateral relations between India and Pakistan.

In the view of many informed and concerned sections worldwide, India-Pakistan hostility is the single biggest obstacle to stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan and creating the conditions for building peace in South Asia.

While reconciliation can take long, cooperation in the region is a necessity that can no longer be put off in the interests of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and South Asia as a whole.

"Asia is a single organism and the Afghan nation is the heart of Asia since desire and courage spring from the heart," said the famous philosopher-poet Sheikh Md Iqbal around 1910. In his collection of Persian poems Payam-e-Mashriq (The Message from the East), there is a memorable one on Afghanistan.

Asia is a body of water and clay,

Of which the Afghan nation forms the heart.

The whole of Asia is corrupt,

If the heart is corrupt,

Its decline is the decline of Asia;

Its rise is the rise of Asia,

The body is free only as long as the heart is free,

The heart dies with hatred but lives with faith.

The author is an independent journalist, writer and editor based in New Delhi. shastri.ramachandaran@gmail.com