Indian presence essential in Afghanistan

[GHATAK]

ISN Security Watch - Indian presence essential in Afghanistan

A substantial Indian military presence in Afghanistan bodes well for India in many aspects, Sushant K Singh writes for Pragati.

By Sushant K Singh for Pragati (06/08/08)

Afghanistan at the crossroads and India, as a close ally of the Karzai government, has an important role to play. The debate on Indian involvement in Afghanistan is sharply polarized - between one group, which wishes to restrict Indian involvement to providing non-military support, primarily in the infrastructure and human resource development projects; and the another, which advocates Indian military involvement in Afghanistan. The arguments dominating the debate are put forth by those opposing Indian military involvement in Afghanistan: problems of overreach, difficult experiences of the US and NATO forces, uncertain commitment of the US in the region and fear of trapping the Indian armed forces in the Afghan quagmire. The most entreating argument put forth is that the current policy of soft power projection pursued by India there has so far been successful and thus warrants no change.

Shifting the battleground
A significant Indian military presence in Afghanistan will alter the geo-strategic landscape in the extended neighborhood by expanding India’s power projection in Central Asia. India has historically had a friendly relationship with both Iran and Russia. With Iran, India can also ride on the goodwill created by Zaranj-Delaram highway, which has provided a road link between Afghanistan and Iran. These nations could well be more amenable to an Indian military presence than they have been to the United States and its NATO allies in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani state will be denied the strategic depth it seeks by installing a favorable dispensation in Afghanistan. The Pakistani establishment will be compelled to divert its energies from their eastern to their northern borders. Loud protests can be anticipated from Pakistan against India’s active military involvement in the region, but the involvement of the United States will restrict Pakistani antipathy to voluble complaints. US officials have, moreover, long been frustrated at what they view as Pakistan's failure to do enough to combat militants along its border with Afghanistan.

An Indian military involvement in Afghanistan will shift the battleground away from Kashmir and the Indian mainland. Targeting the jihadi base will be a huge boost for India’s anti-terrorist operations, especially in Kashmir, both militarily and psychologically.

Until the time Islamic fundamentalist forces are active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, India’s battle to contain terrorism in Kashmir will always be a defensive one. This is because ISI and other jihadist forces across the border have the ability to calibrate the level of terrorism in India. India can counter this effectively only if it has the capacity to strategically ratchet up pressure either of Pakistan’s fronts.

Consequences of failure
Some defense analysts have argued that India should not commit itself militarily to Afghanistan because Afghanistan will fall, yet again, to the Taliban as US and NATO forces are likely to pull out soon. Well, this argument ignores the fact that unlike Iraq, Afghanistan is related to the terrorist attacks on the American homeland and winning it is about ensuring US national security and pride. It is clear, and more so from the pronouncements of both presidential candidates, that the US is in Afghanistan for the long haul.

Moreover, the majority of troops in Afghanistan are a part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), a NATO mission, mandated by the UN, where a significant share of soldiers and equipment comes from European countries. India must move to reinforce their commitment to see the job done. The consequences of a Taliban victory in Afghanistan will be terrible for India to bear. Clearly, letting US and NATO forces fail in Afghanistan is not an option for the Indian state. There can be no better strategic justification for sending our troops to Afghanistan than to secure our long-term interests.

Some Indian analysts mistakenly contend that this is a war waged by the US against Islamic countries and India will end up being a stooge of the West by sending its troops in Afghanistan. This view ignores the fact that India has been under attack from Pakistan-supported jihadists that have imperilled the Indian state for nearly two decades now. India cannot be dissuaded from framing an appropriate response to terrorism just because this act closely aligns India with the US.

Military paradigm
The memory of India’s intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war in the late 1980s animates any discussion on foreign troop deployments. But fears that an Indian deployment in Afghanistan will meet the same fate are unfounded. For in the intervening decades, the Indian Army has successfully fought a similar insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. Indeed, an Afghan deployment will include the he Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy and help enhance India’s joint operations capability. It will also enhance their external cooperation capital as they will operate in a truly multinational environment with armed forces from advanced countries.

Like the 13,000 US soldiers under the Operation Enduring Freedom operating independently alongside the NATO-ISAF, the Indian military presence should have an independent command structure. Geographically Indian troops could be deployed in western Afghanistan, allowing US and ISAF forces to concentrate on the provinces adjoining Pakistan.

India’s soft power
The presence of Indian military in Afghanistan and provision of aid for infrastructure development and human resource training in the war-ravaged country are not mutually exclusive options. In any case, the ferocity of the enmity of jihadist elements against the Indian state will not be subdued, if India shuns military deployment in favor of solely executing developmental projects. Moreover India will find it much easier to successfully execute civil projects once it has stabilized the security climate by taking military control of a region. Soft power has to be an important component of any successful counterinsurgency operation; but it has to be augmented by hard power – of having military boots on ground. It will also send a strong message to the local Afghan nationals that India is in there for a long haul, putting lives of its soldiers to risk, and not restricting itself to merely throwing some alms at them, through developmental aid or projects.

 

[nitesh]

This means involving militarily in Afghanistan, well if it brings peace in long term good.

 

[cactuslily58]

The presence of any outside power in another country beyond a point is not desirable. Howsoever benign the intentions may be, locals are best suited to handle themselves.

 

[Marshal]

This means involving militarily in Afghanistan, well if it brings peace in long term good.

Presence of Indian troops will jeopardise any prospect of rebuilding Afghanistan. Pakistan will never ever accept the presence of Indian army in Afghanistan.it will result in another proxy war between India and Pakistan and the ultimately afghnistan will suffer thats the reason why the Indian government is reluctunt to send troops in to afghnistan.indian government will be happy to see stable afghnistan with present Political establishment which is India centric. let the american do the JOB.

 

[Flintlock]

Presence of Indian troops will jeopardise any prospect of rebuilding Afghanistan. Pakistan will never ever accept the presence of Indian army in Afghanistan.it will result in another proxy war between India and Pakistan and the ultimately afghnistan will suffer thats the reason why the Indian government is reluctunt to send troops in to afghnistan.indian government will be happy to see stable afghnistan with present Political establishment which is India centric. let the american do the JOB.

I agree. We need good relations with Afghanistan and Afghans. If that means treading lightly and keeping our troops home, then so be it.

 

[Contrarian]

I completely agree. Beyond the numbers needed to protect our citizens and workers there, Indian troops should not be present.

Why get involved directly when you can sit back and watch the show. Presence of Indian troops in significant numbers would trouble Pakistan no end, and would have a negative effect on WoT, that is also not in our interests.

 

[Vinod2070]

We should only help build the capacity of Afghanistan forces.

No need to get involved in that cesspool. It is for the Afghans to sort out their issues. India is helping them with their infrastructure and social welfare and that is how it should be.

We should not get involved in their domestic violence which is never ending. Just make sure that the bad guys don't come back again and create problems for us and the region again.

 

[Jhonypakistani]

India-Pakistan rivalry reaches into Afghanistan
By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN –
The Indian Consulate here is bustling with delegations of Indian diplomats and businessmen, who are snapping up many of the lucrative projects to rebuild the roads and infrastructure of Afghanistan.

Just a few blocks away, the Pakistani Consulate is swamped as well - but with Afghans waiting for visas to visit refugee relatives across the border. It isn't the diplomatic mission Pakistan really wants.



This unequal status reflects a turning of tables in 2001, when Northern Alliance forces - bankrolled for years by India - rolled into Kabul on the heels of the retreating Taliban, who had swept to power five years earlier with Pakistan's assistance. The fallout has helped take the 56-year rivalry between India and Pakistan beyond their borders into a third country that both seek to befriend.


For the most part, the Afghan variant of this rivalry is seen in benign ways, but Afghan authorities and Western diplomats warn that there is a subcurrent of skulduggery. And as Pakistan and India trade charges of sabotage and terrorism - including a hand-grenade attack on the Indian Consulate here last week - many diplomats here worry this rivalry could quickly get out of hand.

"It would definitely be unhelpful if India and Pakistan were playing bat and ball in Afghanistan," says a Western diplomat in Islamabad. "I think it's fair to say that India has an intelligence presence in southern Afghanistan, as does Pakistan, but whether it is intelligence gathering or special operations is hard to say. Obviously, the latter would be much more of a concern."

With so many enemies, Afghanistan is looking for a few true friends.

Officially, at least, India and Pakistan - along with the US, Russia, Iran, Germany, Britain, and others - remain firmly on the friends list.

But Afghan authorities here admit there is little they can do, in their current weak state, to stop friends from using Afghanistan once again as the launching base for a proxy war.

It's yet another concern for Afghanistan's leaders to factor in, along with stalled reconstruction projects, fragile security, and growing Taliban attacks along Afghanistan's southern borders.

"We have certainly let both Pakistan and India know that we will not allow our country to be used again as a terrorist base," says one senior Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

At first glance, the Indo-Pakistani rivalry in Afghanistan seems harmless enough, and even somewhat beneficial. Competition between India and Pakistani construction firms near the southern city of Kandahar, for instance, has spurred a building spree of roads. Much to Pakistan's irritation, India won the contract for the road from Kandahar to Spin Boldak, the Afghan town that borders the Pakistani town of Chaman.

Touch of James Bond

But elsewhere, the rivalry is played with more than a touch of James Bond. The grenade attack on the Indian Consulate in Jalalabad, for instance, fits what Indian diplomats call a pattern of harassment and sabotage against their efforts, including attacks on Indian road crews. Afghan authorities have detained seven suspects - all Afghan - in connection with the attack that left no injuries, only building damage.

Navtej Sarna, spokesman for the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New Delhi, blames the grenade attack and others on what he calls "ISI-trained terrorists." The ISI is an acronym for Pakistan's ultrasecret Inter-Services Intelligence department.

Both India and Pakistan have additional consulates in Herat, Mazar-e Sharif, and Kandahar. India reopened its diplomatic buildings after the fall of the Taliban.

"It's for the Afghans to decide which countries get to set up consulates in their countries," says Mr. Sarna. "We have strong bilateral relations with Afghanistan, and we want to help them rebuild their country. India also sees Afghanistan as a route to Central Asia. So it has nothing to do with Pakistan."

Pakistan's accusations

For its part, Pakistan blames such attacks on Afghan elements and on Afghanistan's declining security situation in general. And Pakistani officials say that India's activities have less to do with humanitarian aid and more to do with India's top-secret intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, or RAW.

Pakistan's allegations range from Indian consulates printing false Pakistani currency to RAW's alleged recruitment of Afghans to carry out acts of sabotage and terrorism on Pakistani territory.

Pakistan also accuses India of setting up a network of "terrorist training camps" located inside Afghanistan, including at the Afghan military base of Qushila Jadid, north of Kabul; near Gereshk in southern Helmand Province; in the Panjshir Valley, northeast of Kabul; and at Khahak and Hassan Killies in western Nimroz Province.

The Monitor was not able to verify these allegations independently. India's spokesman, Sarna, calls these charges "rubbish."

Pakistan also alleges that Indian diplomats prompted Afghan warlord Hazrat Ali, the security commander of Nangrahar Province, to fire artillery shells onto Pakistani Army positions in Pakistan's Mohmand tribal agency last month. Mr. Ali maintains that Pakistani Army troops have moved 25 miles into Afghan territory. Pakistan replies that they have deployed troops on the border, at America's urging, to prevent cross border attacks by the Taliban.

Old argument repurposed

"Pakistan very much wants a stable Afghanistan, because they are next to us, and any instability up there will leak into Pakistan," says a senior official in the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. "But as for the Indians, we told Afghanistan that if they open those consulates in southern Afghanistan, the only purpose is cross border terrorism into Pakistan."

Noting that coalition forces have only 11,500 troops to patrol a country larger than France, the Pakistani official says it is plausible for India to set up small, mobile training camps in Afghanistan, if it had the cooperation of the Afghan government.

Then the Pakistani official uses an argument that Indians have used for decades about Pakistani based militant groups fighting in Afghanistan and Kashmir, "Terrorism is a fungible commodity," he warns. "Once you use terrorists somewhere, they can be deployed somewhere else. America trained people to fight against the Russians, and then they got used somewhere else."

 

[luoshan]

India Befriends Afghanistan, Irking Pakistan

With $1.2 Billion in Pledged Aid, New Delhi Hopes to Help Build a Country That Is 'Stable, Democratic, Multiethnic'

By PETER WONACOTT

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."

View Full Image

Reuters
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."

—Matthew Rosenberg contributed to this article.