Afghanistan sends India a weapons wish-list ahead of NATO withdrawal
Afghanistan has handed an armaments wish-list over to New Delhi ahead of the 2014 NATO drawdown from that country.
It includes as many as 150 battle tanks, 120 (105 mm) field guns, a large number of 82 mm mortars, one medium lift transport aircraft (AN-32), two squadrons of medium lift and attack helicopters, and a large number of trucks.
The Afghanistan government has sought military and civilian support from India as part of its strategy to scale up its armoury. Afghanistan has also sought allied paraphernalia for training, maintenance and upkeep of the equipment from India.
Highly-placed sources in the government have said the Afghanistan army also wants New Delhi to set up a military training facility for its officers and soldiers in Afghanistan and provide a training team immediately.
The Afghan army men will be trained in English language, counter insurgency operations, ordnance-weapons and vehicle repairs.
India is also providing $2bn to Afghanistan for its infrastructure development projects, including construction of dams, roads, bridges, Parliament, schools, hospitals and training facilities.
"India is working very closely with the US, Russia and several other countries on Afghanistan post- 2014 drawdown and all like-minded powers have one goal. Afghanistan cannot be permitted to slide back into the tumultuous days of Taliban. An effort is being made to synchronize the rebuilding effort," sources said.
In a powerful signal to India, Afghanistan has turned down Pakistan's offer to train their service personnel and a generous line of credit to take "what they want" from Pakistan ordnance factories.
"Pakistan's powerful Army Chief General Ashfq Pervez Kayani had visited Afghanistan and offered to train the Afghanistan Army - both officers and men. One officer even attended the Command and Staff College in Quetta but in his assessment report after the course said officers in future should be sent to Staff College, Wellington (India)," sources said.
More than 400 Afghan army officers have undergone training at National Defence Academy (NDA) Khadakvasla, Indian Military Academy (IMA) Dehradun and Officers Training Academy (OTA) Chennai in the past three years alone. A total of 1,200 Afghan National Army officers have been trained by India.
"Back in Afghanistan, they proudly wear the NDA, IMA & OTA insignia on their uniform. Though the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has set up a training base for Afghan officers and enlisted men in Afghanistan itself, communication remains an issue. Therefore, they prefer to undergo training in India. We give pre-commission training to 50 officers every year. The cadets undergo an examination similar to Services Selection Board (SSB) in Kabul itself," sources said.
Afghanistan sends India a weapons wish-list ahead of NATO withdrawal | Mail Online
You guys do the African drum dance and go berserk whenever you hear of India giving anything to Afghanistan, especially get red in the face and green with envy whenever you hear that India is giving massive aid for reconstruction of Afghanistan because:
