Karzai, Singh discuss roadmap for 2014 and beyond
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan shakes hands with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday (Picture courtesy: Prime Minister's Office)
21 May 2013
The situation that will obtain in Afghanistan after the presidential elections in April 2014 and the subsequent withdrawal of international troops from the country before that year ends, not to mention the protection of Indian interests and investments made in the war-ravaged, landlocked country over the years, would have weighed on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s mind as he hosted President Hamid Karzai for talks in New Delhi on Tuesday. That, when taken together with President Karzai’s stated desire to broaden and deepen security ties with India, including, but not limited to, the supply of weapons and other military hardware for the Afghan forces, set this round of talks apart from previous ones. Afghan ambassador to India Shaida Abdali prefaced the Karzai-Singh meeting by asserting that “we would like to go beyond the current trend of co-operation between the two countries in the defence sector. So, we would like to have both lethal and non-lethal assistance to our defence forces in Afghanistan.”
Kabul maintains that the Afghan national security forces
must be equipped with the necessary capabilities – including capacity for
logistics and equipment maintenance as well as adequate ground and air
firepower – to execute independent operations against conventional and
unconventional enemies. India and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership
agreement in October 2011, which dwelled on security, trade, capacity-building
and people-to-people contacts. Specifically, India agreed "to assist, as
mutually determined, in the training, equipping and capacity building
programmes for Afghan National Security Forces". Therefore, Kabul’s desire
to source hardware with Indian assistance must be viewed in that context.
According to Ashraf Haidari, deputy chief of mission of the
Afghan embassy in India who has served as Afghanistan’s deputy assistant
national security adviser and deputy chief of mission of the Afghan embassy in
the US, “the Taliban leadership continues to receive protection from the
Pakistani military and intelligence establishments.” He buttressed his argument
by pointing out that “without an external sanctuary, sustainable funding,
weapons supplies, and intelligence support in Pakistan, the Taliban would be
unable to reconsolidate its control over Afghanistan. Since 2003, the Taliban
and its affiliated networks have gradually expanded their influence in the ungoverned
southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan, launching daily terrorist attacks
that have injured and killed thousands of innocent civilians.”
While India was expected to lend a sympathetic ear to
President Karzai, how soon and to what extent will it be able to satisfy
Afghanistan on this count will be a function of India's own assessment of the
unfolding situation situation in the Af-Pak region. Adding to New Delhi’s
anxieties is that there are many moving parts to the Afghan conundrum, namely
Pakistan’s attitude towards Afghanistan and India, the Taliban’s own gameplan,
the moves for a possible reconciliation with the Taliban and the extent of
Pakistan’s role in it, the possibility of a greater Chinese involvement
subsequent to the US pullout, the ethnic configuration of Afghanistan in the
immediate future and last but not the least the eventual successor to Mr Karzai
following the presidential elections to be held in April 2014. That may explain
India’s circumspection, as evidenced by the Ministry of External Affairs
spokesperson’s remarks that while Afghanistan is a “strategically important”
neighbour, India will “continue to discuss and respond to specific requests of
the Afghan government ... within our own modest means as a developing country”.
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| President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan holds talks with President Pranab Mukherjee (Courtesy: Government of India) |
From President Karzai’s perspective there are three other
issues that continue to engage his government’s attention. One is the tensions
with Pakistan on the Durand Line, which has been cited by Karzai’s spokesman
Aimal Faizi on more than one occasion. The second is the recognition that
Afghanistan is vulnerable to transnational security threats, stemming in particular
from the narcotics trade and terrorism. The third issue, which is of a more
immediate concern to his government, is the lack of coordination among
international donors or partners. Although the diversity of nations present in
Afghanistan demonstrates international goodwill and consensus for supporting
the country, Kabul feels each contributing nation has pursued its own aid
strategies, effectively bypassing coordination with each other and the Afghan
government. Hence, a lack of strategic coordination across international
military and civilian efforts to ensure aid effectiveness has so far crippled
the Afghan state and left it with no capacity or resources to deliver basic
services to its people.
For landlocked Afghanistan, access to a sea port is particularly
vital. This specific need can be met to a certain extent by India’s
collaboration with Iran for developing the Chabahar port and linking it to
Afghanistan by a network of roads. At the same time, Kabul is acutely aware
that its location should help it serve as a regional trade and transit hub for
easy movement of goods and natural resources to meet the rising energy demands
of India and China. Incidentally, Afghanistan was discussed at some length by
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when they met on
Monday. India has also been discussing Afghanistan with a host of other
countries in the region and beyond, notably Iran, Russia and the US, besides
international fora.
It was President Karzai’s 12th visit to India, and the
second in the last six months. He paid a courtesy call on President Pranab
Mukherjee and addressed industry representatives, too. In his address to the
captains of Indian industry, President Karzai called for Indian investments in
healthcare, agriculture and telecommunications in Afghanistan. He pointed out
that agriculture was a priority sector for Afghanistan as it accounts for 36
per cent of its GDP and supports 85 per cent of the Afghan population. Afghan
Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul, Afghanistan ambassador to India Shaida Abdali,
Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Gautam Mukhopadhaya and other senior officials
were present on the occasion.
Video of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday (Courtesy: Prime Minister's Office)
