It was not so much that they themselves believed in the ideology of bin Laden or his Afghan allies, but they saw this kind of Islamic politics as an effective way to contain Indian influence and to control an unruly neighbor to their west.

There is no point in talking if the people you are trying to reach don't really care about anything but their own personal interests.

More later... I'm mostly just blogging this for reference...

Conversation with Steve Coll, p. 5 of 8