India heavily Involved in Afghanistan

[Thomas]

Spending for own strategic goals nothing to do with helping Afghans.

doesn't matter what the motives behind the giving is. The fact is the Afghans are being helped in a positive manner. Would you rather they send arms?

 

[arihant]

Let India built roads in Afghanistan.....but how come are they going to do trade without bypassing Pakistan .........My Indian frnds please dont deny the fact that India is not just helping Afghanistan for the sake of helping them...they have there national interests in mind......I always say in International politics there are no frnds at all.....China helps us because it is also in there favor.....same way India is helping afghanistan but also establishing training camps there....

It has national interest. Friendships are always valuable. Current Friendship with USA is helping our civilian nuclear program. Friendship with Russia helped us for long time. Friendship with countries like Brazil, Japan and Germany helps to reorganize the UN.

India can bypass Pakistan in the trade. India has built port in Iran. India is developing Highway from that port to Afghanistan (Via Iran).

 

[advaita]

Spending for own strategic goals nothing to do with helping Afghans.

Better to provide useful civil development help then to supply weapons to a third world country with record as ......... (Nigerian Civil War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

But of course, Indians are wrong.

 

[paritosh]

Spending for own strategic goals nothing to do with helping Afghans.

On this fourm there is an Aghan...I don't remember his name...he did praise our country's efforts...I take that as a good sign.

 

[Spring Onion]

off topic.. But Pakistan was better off using the ammunition against TTP Taliban instead of providing it to Srilanka. Why did it help SL in the war against the Tamil Tigers?? Any specific reasons? Why dint you ask your government about this! Why are you harping at anything that India does?

Case in point
http://www.defence.pk/forums/genera...-help-nigeria-build-solid-defence-sector.html

the difference is that Indians try to fool the world that India is helping Afghans as a charity whereas its a fact India is only involved now when there is a pro-India warlords and criminals' govt in Afghanistan, just to promote Indian intrests not to help Afghans.

Whereas when we provided arms to Sri Lankan we did not say we are doing charity rather these are pure defence deals same is the case with our defence cooperation with Nigeria.

Now if few Indians here accept that your government is just trying to promote its own intrests than i have no problem with you as i believe every country has the right to safegaurd its interests but Peeeeeeeeeelease do not burden the Afghans that you are sleepless over their poverty and helping them out.

 

[Spring Onion]

doesn't matter what the motives behind the giving is. The fact is the Afghans are being helped in a positive manner. Would you rather they send arms?

They dont need to send arms as Americans are doing that already.

 

[Tango25]

Its called win-win. We help them, we help ourselves in the process. Both parties benefit.

One doesn't always have to choose between saint and sinner.

I thought that this would be obvious to someone of average intellect, but considering your earlier comments on how muslims are supposedly discriminated in the Indian Army because they can't grow their facial hair, I'm not too surprised at your most recent gem.

the difference is that Indians try to fool the world that India is helping Afghans as a charity whereas its a fact India is only involved now when there is a pro-India warlords and criminals' govt in Afghanistan, just to promote Indian intrests not to help Afghans.

Whereas when we provided arms to Sri Lankan we did not say we are doing charity rather these are pure defence deals same is the case with our defence cooperation with Nigeria.

Now if few Indians here accept that your government is just trying to promote its own intrests than i have no problem with you as i believe every country has the right to safegaurd its interests but Peeeeeeeeeelease do not burden the Afghans that you are sleepless over their poverty and helping them out.

 

[DesiGuy]

India Befriends Afghanistan, Irking Pakistan


KABUL -- After shunning Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, India has become a major donor and new friend to the country's democratic government -- even if its growing presence here riles archrival Pakistan.

From wells and toilets to power plants and satellite transmitters, India is seeding Afghanistan with a vast array of projects. The $1.2 billion in pledged assistance includes projects both vital to Afghanistan's economy, such as a completed road link to Iran's border, and symbolic of its democratic aspirations, such as the construction of a new parliament building in Kabul. The Indian government is also paying to bring scores of bureaucrats to India, as it cultivates a new generation of Afghan officialdom.

India's aid has elevated it to Afghanistan's top tier of donors. In terms of pledged donations through 2013, India now ranks fifth behind the U.S., U.K., Japan and Canada, according to the Afghanistan government. Pakistan doesn't rank in the top 10.

Afghanistan is now the second-largest recipient of Indian aid after Bhutan. "We are here for the same reason the U.S. and others are here -- to see a stable, democratic, multiethnic Afghanistan," Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Jayant Prasad said in an interview.

Such a future for Afghanistan is hardly assured, as the run-up to Thursday's presidential election shows. On Tuesday, a pair of mortar shells hit near the presidential palace in Kabul while Taliban insurgents attacked polling stations across the country, as part of wave of violence aimed at preventing people from casting ballots in the election.

Despite backing the Taliban in the past, Pakistan doesn't want to see an anarchic Afghanistan, say Pakistani security analysts.

"Pakistan is doing nothing to thwart the elections in Afghanistan and everything to help Afghanistan stabilize and have a truly representative government," says Gen. Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan's former ambassador to the U.S. and a retired army chief.

Yet India's largess has stirred concern in Pakistan, a country situated between Afghanistan and India that has seen its influence in Afghanistan wane following the collapse of the Taliban regime. At the heart of the tensions is the shared fear that Afghanistan could be used by one to destabilize the other.

"We recognize that Afghanistan needs development assistance from every possible source to address the daunting challenges it is facing. We have no issue with that," says Pakistani foreign-ministry spokesman Abdul Basit. "What Pakistan is looking for is strict adherence to the principle of noninterference."

India is seeding Afghanistan with a vast array of projects such as a completed road link to Iran's border and the construction of a new parliament building in Kabul. A view of the city, above.
The two countries have sparred repeatedly about each other's activities in Afghanistan. Indian officials say their Pakistani counterparts have claimed that there are more than the official four Indian consulates in Afghanistan, and that they support an extensive Indian spy network. For years, Pakistan refused to allow overland shipment of fortified wheat biscuits from India to feed two million Afghan schoolchildren. India instead had to ship the biscuits through Iran, driving up costs for the program.

The World Food Program, which administers the shipments, said the Pakistan government gave its approval for overland shipment in 2008 -- six years after the first delivery from India. "Why did it take six years ... is something that WFP cannot answer," a spokesman for the aid organization said. "However, we are indeed thankful to the government of Pakistan for allowing transit for the fortified biscuits."

Mr. Basit, the foreign-ministry spokesman, didn't respond to a question about the Indian food assistance.

India's aid has extended well beyond physical infrastructure to the training of accountants and economists. For a nation devastated by decades of war, these soft skills fill a hole, says Noorullah Delawari, Afghanistan's former central-bank governor and now head of Afghanistan Investment Support Agency, an organization that promotes private enterprise. "The country shut down for 20 years," he said. "We stopped producing educated people to run our businesses and government offices."

Some believe there is room for cooperation between India and Pakistan in Afghanistan since both countries share an abiding interest in its stability. "The opportunity is there," says Gen. Karamat, "if we can get out of the straitjacket of the past."

India's Afghan Aid Irks Pakistan - WSJ.com

Enemy of an Enemy is our friend.

I don't consider Pakistan my enemy, but you know, these politicians..

 

[arihant]

Enemy of an Enemy is our friend.

I don't consider Pakistan my enemy, but you know, these politicians..

You can blame Politics for earlier situations but in current scenario people are involved largely. In forum there is no politics still there is hatred. It's our common interest which is not matching and differences likely to grow in future.

 

[xebex]

then why dont you first benefit your own people

It is the tax paying people of India that is giving the aid to Afghanistan not from PM's pocket. If u r a muslim u can call it a "Zakat" between nations. For us Indians, its just another good karma.

 

[hack]

then why dont you first benefit your own people

It is India's own money which she does not get as aid from other countries unlike some others in the region so she can spend it or throw it in the air as she wishes.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Better to provide useful civil development help then to supply weapons to a third world country with record as ......... (Nigerian Civil War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

But of course, Indians are wrong.

You mean like this?

...
Prime Minister Gilani in his speech said, "We will transform our region into one, where terrorism and extremism are but a distant memory. And where future generations can enjoy the fruits of freedom, development and prosperity in an environment of security, stability and abundant opportunity."

He said Afghanistan's development has to be accorded priority and it's government, neighbours, regional countries, major powers and international organizations needed to act in concert to advance the shared goals. He said Pakistan was prepared to join in efforts with Afghanistan in promoting regional connectivity, strengthening energy cooperation, expanding opportunities for Afghan citizens and enhancing the capacity of Afghan national institutions. He said Pakistan and Afghanistan share faith, folklore, culture, customs and have common roots.

"Our joys and sorrows, our successes and tragedies, intersect and our people are bound by a distinct sense of shared destiny," adding that together both countries could embark the road to deeper trust, greater understanding and intensified cooperation. Gilani said Pakistan was proud to be an active participant in the reconstruction of Afghanistan and added that it had contributed over $ 300 million for this purpose.

He said currently Pakistan was engaged in constructing the 200-bed Jinnah General Hospital and Thalacemia Centre in Kabul, another hospital in Logar and a Kidney Centre in Jalalabad. The Prime Minister also announced to build a hostel for over 1,000 students in Kabul and undertake expansion of the universities of Kabul, Nangarhar and Balkh.

About Pakistan's efforts for the development of Afghanistan, Prime Minister Gilani mentioned the already completed Torkham-Jalalabad highway and said at present, it was engaged in building a parallel carriageway. He said Pakistan had supplied 200 trucks, 100 buses and over 50 ambulances and mobile medical units to Afghanistan and printed 10 million textbooks for Afghan school children, besides supplying school kits, computers, tents, food aid and other essential items.

The Prime Minister announced allocation of 1,000 scholarships for Afghan students. He also proposed setting up model villages for Afghan returnees and plans for promoting skills development through vocational training centres. The Prime Minister said Pakistan would set up a regional Customs Academy in Kabul, extend the railroads up to Afghanistan, and accelerate the projects on infrastructure and energy connectivity.

"These projects are the first incremental steps towards the realization of a futuristic vision for the region," he said. The Prime Minister said, "We have no doubt that this vision is within reach. Through concerted efforts, we will establish integrated and interconnected corridors of trade and transport."

He said Pakistan had also been engaged in capacity building of Afghanistan's state institutions in the fields of diplomacy, law enforcement, judiciary, agriculture, counter narcotics, customs and medical and paramedical services. He said among regional frameworks, Pakistan is a leading participant in ECO's endeavors for the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Gilani referred to his meeting with President Karzai in August last in Colombo, where the two democratic governments agreed to jointly brought about a fundamental transformation in bilateral relationship. He mentioned that jirga process had been revived in line with the aspirations of the people of the two countries. The Prime Minister hoped that Afghan refugees would return home with dignity and honour and be rehabilitated at their own motherland safely. He said the struggle against terrorism was a struggle for a profound vision for a better tomorrow.

"It is a struggle for hearts and minds, one in which dialogue and development must be the most potent tools," he said. PM Gilani said after long years of conflict and suffering, people of Afghanistan and the region deserve security and stability. "They deserve stronger institutions, effective governance, respite from narco trade, meaningful reconstruction and sustainable economic development and they deserve a healing process, he added. Gilani said the regional dimension of Afghanistan's development strategy warrants closer attention.
ReliefWeb » Document » Afghanistan: Gilani, Karzai express resolve to make joint efforts for region’s peace, prosperity

Given the difference in size between India and Pakistan, Pakistan's contribution is relatively significant.

Kudos to India for its contributions as well - the Afghans need all the help they can get, though they themselves would be best served if they stayed neutral in the region, a Swiss-istan of sorts.

 

[Thomas]

They dont need to send arms as Americans are doing that already.

yea, just like when Pakistan ISI gave the Taliban arms and ammunition. Ohh yea, and money and training..........all in the name if Geo political influence. I would say India is way less involved in Afghanistan then Pakistan. And has less blood on their hands.

 

[sob]

You mean like this?


Given the difference in size between India and Pakistan, Pakistan's contribution is relatively significant.

Kudos to India for its contributions as well - the Afghans need all the help they can get, though they themselves would be best served if they stayed neutral in the region, a Swiss-istan of sorts.

This is a very good idea which India , Pakistan and Iran should work together to achieve. Afganistan like Switzerland is a land locked country and needs to play a very delicate balancing game while keeping it's own interests at the forefront.

This will be a win-win for all concerned.

 

[DaRk WaVe]

yea, just like when Pakistan ISI gave the Taliban arms and ammunition. Ohh yea, and money and training..........all in the name if Geo political influence. I would say India is way less involved in Afghanistan then Pakistan. And has less blood on their hands.

"And has less blood on their hands"

look who's talking about BLOOD ON HANDS, where r those WMDs on the basis of which thousands & thousands have been killed in Iraq War, dont give Pakistan lesson on blood, MR Thomas, Pakistan was,is and will remain a peace loving Nation , who cared for all those homeless afghans for all these years when world has forgotten afgh, who is suffering the worst coz of American war in afgh