In the midst of this turmoil came the assassination of the Afghan government’s chief peace negotiator with the Taliban, former President Burhanuddin Rabbani. Soon after, an outraged President Hamid Karzai signed a “strategic partnership” agreement with India (though he added, as a placatory afterthought, that “Pakistan is our twin brother”).
乱上加乱的是阿富汗政府与塔利班的首席和平谈判员、前总统拉巴尼的遇刺。拉巴尼遇刺后不久，愤怒的总统卡尔扎伊与印度签署了“战略合作伙伴”协议（不过事后他又安慰性地说，“巴基斯坦是我们的同胞手足”）。