Exactly that is my point. Imagine what a small force can do to rattle Pak. They do not even need to do much, but Pak will go maniac!
Concerning US, they can do nothing. 1) Neither US and Pak are as close as in 1971, 2) India is a much bigger power and do not need Russian backing. Also, US is not omnipotent and they can hardly contain any country. Russia screwed them twice in the last year in Ukraine and now Syria. And US could hardly do anything.
Also, there is a good chance to actually use US to back up our forces in Af. And may be even ask them to pay a bit!
You don't understand, our small or large force contingent in Afghanistan, without logistics, local populace and no neighboring countries support, is basically marching our soldiers to chakravyuh, with no escape.
1) They dont need to be close. Any unilateral action by India(with help of iran or russia), brings them closer again.
2) Agreed US is not omnipotent. But then neither is India, esp in the situation I outlined.
3)US - India joint op is non starter. India doesn't want its forces under US command. For US its more profitable, if NATO members join in, because NATO at our, US (def) sales goes up. India at war, Russian and Israeli defence sales goes up. What benefit does US accrue from India having boots on Ground acting independently from US command?
4) As I said nothing wrong in your intentions from Geo Politics POV. But there are other cost effective ways of achieving it.
This is the biggest problem i.e. logistics. Probably, we will need to involve Iran, but not sure how big a role Iran will like to play. But given Iran is Af's neighbour they would like Af. to be stable if possible.
But as I mentioned at the beginning, it is a high risk game and with probably high returns. Of course, the current powers would not like it. Russia is spread too thin on Ukraine and Syria, so I do not think they can do much. Probably they can be brought on board to support India. China would be pissed off, but they can't do much other than pay more to Pakis. US again can be brought on our side, depending how we play our moves.
Also, I am not asking to raise a complete corps and send it to Af. We just need a division of 5-10k soldiers, so that they do not spread themselves too thin and not too many to generate the ire of Af people. If India keeps sitting like a lame duck, good opportunities will not arise in the future. Probably, Af will pass into the hands of Taliban again, if India does not engage proactively.
Yes, it would be expensive, but it can also be used to give a boost to local defence procurement.
You cant bring Iran to Picture, without Afghanis getting pissed. Shia-Sunni thingy! Russia will be acting via cis countries. China will be paying more to Pak to hurt India.
To fight taliban NA will be activated again. Not easy for them to come back. this time na will have russia, us and India support, instead of india & russia before.
I have already told, train and Arm Afghani Army. they can achieve your objectives in much better way.