Menon arrives in Kabul to discuss security of Indians
Posted: Friday , Mar 05, 2010 at 1159 hrs
Kabul:
During his two-day visit, Menon is expected to meet President
Hamid Karzai and some other leaders.
Carrying certain proposals for ensuring security of about 4,000 Indians in Afghanistan, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon arrived here on Friday to discuss the issue with the Afghan leadership.
During his two-day visit, Menon will meet President Hamid Karzai and some other leaders of Afghanistan.
Soon after his arrival, Menon held discussions with Indian Ambassador Jayant Prasad with regard to safety of the estimated 4,000 nationals working on various developmental and reconstruction projects across Afghanistan in the backdrop of last Friday's attack here.
The Indian government has evolved certain proposals for the security of its nationals and these will be discussed by Menon with the Afghan authorities, sources have said.
The proposals include the setting up of protected venues where Indians working on projects could be housed.
There are also suggestions for deploying security personnel at places where Indians work.
"There is a limit to what Indian government can do there. Ultimately, Afghan authorities have to take steps to ensure the security of Indians here," a source said.
The sources noted that the Afghan government has always been cooperative in this regard and expressed confidence that it would take further steps to upgrade security of Indians.
As part of India's USD 1.3 billion assistance, about 4,000 Indians are working on various projects in areas like healthcare, power, education and the social sector.
The review of their security was necessitated after last Friday's attack on two hotels in Kabul, targeting Indians specifically. Seven Indians, including three Major rank army officers, were killed and nine others, including five army officers were injured in the attack.
The attack on February 26 reflected a change of strategy by the terrorists as they chose soft targets rather than secure installations like the Embassy or Consulates and their protected personnel as in the past.
After the terror strike, Karzai assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that his government would take extra measures to protect the Indians.
Besides discussing security, Menon is also expected to enquire about the progress of investigation into the incident.
Afghan authorities have said the attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba. However, investigators suspect the involvement of the Taliban faction of Haqqani as well.
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