Indian Role in Afghanistan.

india and its presence in afganistan all discussions here.

I think if one is smart ,then he will do things after thinking twice,the Afganistan has stucked into troubles,and nobody besides its people can rescue it,it doesn't need any one who interferes its internal issues named as helping the country,if the USA wants to get involved into it,then India as a ally can go with the USA ,but just pretend to do something,nobody in Afganistan will be graceful to the people who have schemes.I think let it blossom on its own is the best choice,if the UN is kind-hearted,then give them more donation.That's enough.

Im of the opinion that A-stan serves us a big strategic value. It keeps Pakistan on the boil from two sides. India should station its troops out there even if they are doing nothing but playing Budkushi. Just the mere presence of Indian troops in A-stan will give Pak sleepless nights. They as it is have a problem with the number of consulates we operate there as well as the Tajik Airbase that IAF operates with MiG 29s.

I second you on that, Yusuf. I think that increased Indian military presence in Afghanistan would be a two-sided advantage. Since Indian military is known for not interfering with the local culture and that Afghans share a lot of common cultural material with us, we would not have so much of a trouble as the US military in adjusting to Afghan conditions. This of course would be done with Afghan government's permission.

I am sure that after the Zaranj-Delaram highway and other such projects, Afghans would be confident that Indians have no intentions of imperialism and also we could train their military into an advanced, sensible and capable military force, able to withstand any terrorist attacks thrown at them. Since war is not new to Afghanistan, beneficial military training to their troops would be a definite welcome by their government.

The other benefit would be that we can maintain a bird's eye view on the developments taking place in our western neighbor's military charts. With the near collapse of Pakistan's ruling elite, there is no saying as to how far Taliban or any other terrorist element is from their nuclear and ballistic arsenal. I think all the Asian countries must wake up to realise this threat before it gets out of control.

Currently, There are only 2 countries in Asia that have the capability to eradicate terrorism if working together and they are us and China. If we both can come to a common ground on Pakistan's issue from the perspective of combating terrorists and leaving civilians out of this, I am sure that there could be a lot of positive developments that would take place in the region as the probability of increased long term peace would be in sight.

yang India is going more than a ally of USA into Afghanistan if you look at Indian history we have the same history and they are more or less the same people, India has been a bigger benefactor to Afghanistan than any one else in the world. If you go further back in history there was no Afganistan it was part of the Indian continent.

IMO as long as India is in Afghanistan (i.e. Pakistan's strategic backyard) they are going to keep making loud noises about it and using the excuse to support their favourite warlords (read Taliban).

This is slowly but surely dawning on the US.

I wonder where things will go from here - will they discretely ask India to move out, or will they continue to ignore Pakistan's complaints? At the moment, they are opting for the latter.

The US needs someone to take it's burden and India doesn't need a second invitation to get in there. It may stretch us a bit to station our troops there, but then its worth the effort to keep our beloved neighbor on the edge all the time.

the question though is how are we going to supply those hypothetical troops?

It is not a problem to have a military presence in Afghanistan.

In fact, it would be in India's interest to do so since Afghanistan has had very cordial relations with India except during the Taliban/ Mujahideen rule, when it was a Pakistani surrogate.

However, the main issue is - how will India logistically support the force. While the facility to use the airbase in CAR is always there, yet to support a huge military presence by air is exorbitantly expensive and which India can ill afford.

The only feasible route is thorough the Chabahar port in Iran, which India has helped build and then to Afghanistan through the Chabahar-Melak-Zaranj-Dilaram road.

For this to happen, Iran has to be brought on board in this war against the Taliban.

Sir, Why should we go and post our troops now?...Instead we can bring both America and Iran both into the bed. Iran can allow the NATO to resupply through the port and the Highway that we built. We still dont know what is taking place between the P5, Germany and Iran. If the talks are a success and a deal is reached we can also supply the NATO troops from there thus reducing the crediblity and use of Pakistan. The Taliban will be pissed of with Iran and launch an attack on them thus pulling Iran into the war.

Sir,
Would the US/NATO allow too much Indian influence in Afghanistan in their efforts to establish a sovereign, non-reliant government ?
Stabilization of South Asia is one of the major components of Mr. Obama's policies, and our encirclement of Pakistan will not quite be stabilizing.

IMO too, its a great option to make friends with the Afghans, but I see too many hurdles in the way.

That India has immense expertise in Counter Insurgency or anti terrorist or High Altitude operations and which is unmatched by the western nations is a known fact. That is why, they train at our Schools of Instructions on these subjects.

The US and ISAF are at their tethers ends.

Further, if India takes over a major share of the operations, it save them body bags and hence appear good domestically.

Thus, involving India is a win win for them!

Having stabilised Afghanistan, they will say thank you to India and India sent on her way!

Therefore, before India even thinks of going into Afghanistan, the ground rules at the end of the tunnel must be laid down in black and white and we should not go into Afghanistan merely to save the western body bags.

Pakistan is close to anarchy. It is a major worry for the US because if the Taliban and the fundamentalists take over a major part of Pakistan or make the elected govt moribund, then the worries and woes for the western world will be much greater than if Pakistan feels uncomfortable with India on both flanks!

Catch 22 for all concerned!

JMTs

Exactly !
And Zardari's constant cribbing at every international platform, will not help to serve India's intentions of encirclement of Pakistan.

P.S. What are JMTs ? Jedi mind tricks ?

Ray Sir,


I for one has always believed that we need to have our soldiers stationed in south-west afghanistan and take care of the highway which leads from iran to turkmenistan for that takes care of our energy supply needs from CAR, as also if any such deployment has to happen then that keeps pakistan on its toes as then they wont just have their eastern border to worry about.


but there is a draw back that one sits on right from the beginning and that is the casualties that will happen there. Getting a body of a soldier from j&k or NE is one thing but to get a body of the soldier from foreign land and a war that will be seen as a making by the US and not our own war and where there is no UN mandate is an altogether a different thing and in this age of electronic media where all these media groups are ever ready to hype up the slightest of the happenings will not let go this opportunity as a by gone and then there will be the pressure of the opposition political parties who are as always waiting for any such happening to occur and then go to their constituent and shed crocodile tears and then this whole thing could catch up to hysterical levels.


For the political party which heads any such government that allows such a deployment over seas will be under pressure from all corners and then there will be the coalition partners who could go to the extent of even withdrawing the support to any such govt. the political loss will be too much which will reflect directly on the diplomacy which will wane out sooner than later and there could come a time where the govt of the day is forced either willingly or unwillingly to pull back our troops and all this at the end of the day could be a huge embarrassment.


Do you think with all this as a possible outcome, we should go ahead with any such deployment, and all this looks like a very possible out come.

yes your right Lethal Astan has been of Vital Stratatgic value to India as far as History can go and has Played a Vital Role In India's Stratagic Geo political Calculations from times of the Yore now is now is now diffrent and India Has Shown a Total example of Intiative by courting Astan for our ally