Indian Role in Afghanistan

[Kshatriya87]

Pakistan can only protest but that would hardly matter to us.

As usual, they will again threaten us with nuclear attack.

 

[Kshatriya87]

Naval bases I don't think so ..... but India has an observation post in Oman.

On the opposite side we have Chahabar port. India has considerable presence there.

Can you describe what this observation post consists of please?

 

[Srinivas_K]

Can you describe what this observation post consists of please?

Oman is the first Gulf nation to have formalised defence relations with India. Both countries conducted joint military exercises in 2006 and subsequently signed a defense agreement. Following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Oman in 2008, defence co-operation between the two countries was further stepped up. The Indian Navy has been utilising Oman's ports as bases for conducting anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. The Indian Air Force has also been holding biannual joint exercises with the Royal Air Force of Oman since 2009

Indian Listening Station In Oman Monitoring Pakistan's Naval Communications
As claimed by the France-based, privately-operated, global intelligence gathering organisation, Indigo Publications, in its 'Intelligence Online' publication.(Aldrich)

This, from its January 16 2013 newsletter.

"India opens its ears – European intelligence services are keenly speculating on the purpose of a listening post that has been active for at least two years on the outskirts of Ras al-Hadd, at the northeasternmost tip of Oman. Located on an isolated rocky plateau just 2 km from the sea, the site which is protected by police checkpoints in not among the listed US listening post in the country (see below), and it may be the first Indian listening post in the Persian Gulf. Several reasons make this likely. While Saudi Arabia and most other kingdoms in the region are allied to Pakistan, Oman has active diplomatic relations with India, with whom it signed a defence agreement in 2008. Construction of the Ras al-Hadd listening post was finished a year later. The facility is also located directly across the Arabian Sea from Pakistan. India has had an interception post in the far north of Madagascar since 2007 and is planning to build others in the Maldives, the Seychelles and Mauritius."

As seen from the Google Maps image, above, the Indian listening post is practically a front door neighbour [~400 kms] to Pakistan's Gwadar Port, one that it wants China to develop into a major Naval installation, among other fantastical longings. If plans for such a base, located in a province that has been waging a struggle for its independence from the existing Pakistani state for more than 60 years, do materialise, then India would be favourably placed to monitor the upsurge in communications emanating from there [SIGINT]. Of all the monarchies in the Middle-East, India has enjoyed an especially close & friendly relationship with the Omani kingdom. Besides periodic joint military exercises, involving all 3 branches of the Armed Forces, Oman has also granted it berthing rights for Indian Naval Warships to replenish its stocks & its sailors to step on land for Rest & Recuperation, during the course of long deployments away from home, an increasing trend in the Navy's mission profile. Such an arrangement with Oman fits perfectly with the Indian Government stating the extent from the Persian Gulf to Malacca Strait being within the ambit of its 'Area of Operation'/'Sphere of Interest'. Yet another indication of Indo-Omani relations being robust & one based on trust was the recent report which stated that the kingdom had approached India to carry out the task of fencing its International Borders with Yemen, a critical security measure to keep the kingdom safe from influence of Islamist terrorists. Despite these gains, the relationship holds potential for a lot more, especially given that one sits on major energy reserves & the other is an even greater consumer of it. Relationships wrapped around Carbon – diamonds, oil alike – the strongest.

Also read: India and Oman Relations

India, with its closer proximity & historical contact with the African & Middle-Eastern region, has thus far managed to gain an upper hand viz-a-viz China, on matters of militarily significant presence in that region. However, one needn't be exceedingly intelligent to deduce that China, with its deeper pockets and propensity to buy out any opposition is sparing no efforts to follow suite. On China's efforts thus far,

"China's floating facilities – Although it is trailing behind in the Arabian sea listening post race, China is nonetheless working iall out to install permanent interception facilities in the region. Chinese specialists now support Pakistan and Iran's intelligence services, however these only have very limited interception capacities.

To boost its presence in the region, the 3rd Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which is in charge of interception, is working to develop its ties with countries such as Djibouti and Kenya, however this has yet to produce any concrete results.

In the meantime, China regularly dispatches "oceanographic observation" vessels, crammed with sophisticated interception material, to the Arabian Sea. These frequently fid themselves crossing paths with the Dupuy de Lôme, the French Navy sea intelligence ship that entered into service 2006 and also spends much of its time in the same waters."

Beside the above listening post, India has long been helping nations in the Indian Ocean Region [IOR] set up security infrastructure, and providing military hardware. Besides the additional SIGINT stations planned in other countries, as stated above, India has also completed the task of linking up its coastal radars on its West coast, with those it has installed on each of Maldives' islands. Similar inter-linking plans with Sri Lanka & Mauritius are also to be implemented. The Armed Forces have also regularly been engaging in joint military exercises with them, besides imparting training. In addition to these, the Navy & Coast Guards also assist by carrying out hydrographic surveys & maritime surveillance of their EEZ. The Indian Navy has been deputing its officers to help manage Mauritius' Coast Guard's operations. Militarily India has a distinct advantage, by a comfortable margin, over China which is seen to be earnestly trying to gain a foothold in the IOR. Understanding the challenges such developments pose to Indian interests & concerns, it is absolutely imperative for India to leverage & strengthen its long-standing relationships with nations in the IOR, guarding against any unwarranted ingress. Developments over the past few years do indicate that the Indian leadership is wholly cognizant of this fact and has been seen taking measures to address these, though the pace at which it seem to be occurring leads one to conclude that there could be ample scope for improvement in the effort.

Indian Listening Station In Oman Monitoring Pakistan's Naval Communications | CombatGears

India Oman Air excercises

And Now India - Iran are extending their trade relationship and India will have considerable presence in Chabahar also.

 

[janme]

As usual, they will again threaten us with nuclear attack.

Yeah i forgot atomy hathiyaar lol

 

[Haman10]

Due to the proximity of the port to Pakistan? What if we decide to set up a small Naval base there?

Lol , mate according to our constitution no country can even have a military think tank based in our lands let alone bases .

Besides our navy is the most powerful navy among muslim and other ME nations , so pakistan is not even considered in this issue

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk

 

[prohumanity]

Pakistan's hatred and envy of India is leading to its downfall. Iran and Oman do not have such negative feelings towards India as they understand India better. Cha bahar port and trade highway through Iran will create a win win situation for India, Oman, Iran, Afghanistan and central Asian countries and all these economies will florish together. If Paki remains envious and hateful, it will continue to live on crumbs thrown by it's master ,Washington.

 

[Pulkit]

What is India's Interest in all this????

 

[Voldemort]

NEW DELHI: The Friday morning attack on the Indian consulate in Herat province of Afghanistan by four heavily armed terrorists was launched in 26/11 style with a motive of taking the consulate officials as hostage.

Recoveries made from one of the fidayeens showed that they had supplies for at least three days and enough arsenals to completely destroy the consulate.

ITBP personnel, who repelled the attack killing one of the fidayeens while he was trying to scale the consulate wall, have found that each fidayeen carried dry fruit packets that could help him survive two-three days. Apart from this each carried one AK-47 gun with under-barrel grenade launcher (UBGL), six magazines, 17 rocket propelled grenades and four hand grenades.

"Had they gained entry, with such massive ammunition, they could have completely destroyed the consulate," said a senior ITBP officer. ITBP, which has around 300 personnel guarding five Indian consulates and embassies in Afghanistan, had 26 men guarding the Herat consulate.
--
ITBP DG Subhash Goswami said, "One of the fidayeens was killed by our rearguard constables while he was trying to scale the consulate wall. We have recovered dry fruits from his bag and considerable amount of arms and ammunition that he was carrying on his body. The other three terrorists entered into a building adjacent to the consulate and were neutralized by Afghan forces. None of our jawans or the consulate staff was injured."

Goswami said that a general alert regarding a possible attack on consulates in Afghanistan had been received by the force a few weeks ago. "We recently reinforced our strength by 79 more men in the country in view of the threats," said Goswami.

PM designate@narendramodi& Prez Karzai of#Afghanistan have a telephone conversation regarding attack on#India's Consulate in Herat.

— Syed Akbaruddin (@MEAIndia)May 23, 2014
India salutes the efforts of India's security personnel& Afghan security forces for their valiant efforts to fight the terrorists in Herat.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi)May 23, 2014 According to ITBP sources, at around 3.45am Kabul time (4.30am IST), a loud explosion followed by gunshots was heard outside the consulate. This alerted the entire ITBP contingent, led by inspector Manjit Singh, who rushed to secure the periphery. Right then, one of the fidayeens was spotted trying to scale the left wall of the consulate.

"Constables Rakesh and Praveen Kumar shot at him after his bag got stuck in the concertina wires," said Goswami. Sources said, despite suffering gunshot, the fidayeen managed to enter but was neutralized after walking a few steps. The other three fidayeens then entered an adjacent building and started firing, which was replied by the Afghan forces. The encounter continued for good 10 hours before all terrorists were killed.

Sources said that the fidayeen who entered the consulate had been left dead for over four hours on the suspicion of being strapped with an IED. Only after it was ascertained that he was not a suicide bomber, recoveries were made from him

Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...officials-as-hostage/articleshow/35525774.cms

 

[pmaitra]

An Afghanistan National Army soldier fires his weapon to counter terrorist strike on the Indian Consulate in Herat

An injured Afghan soldier is winched down by a crane after four terrorists attacked the Indian Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, in the early hours of Friday

Afghan security forces personnel take position at a residential building near the Indian Consulate, where three of the insurgents are holed up

An Afghan soldier takes aim during the clash between the insurgents and the security forces

Indo-Tibetan Border Police at the consulate held off the assault until Afghanistan's National Army (ANA) soldiers arrived to help secure the consulate

Afghan security forces assist an injured colleague at the scene where two insurgents were killed

Source: Taliban gunmen shot dead after they attack Indian consulate in Herat with rocket propelled grenades | Mail Online

More pictures at: Indian consulate attackers in Afghanistan planned to take officials as hostage - The Times of India

Taliban shot dead by ITBP (GRAPHIC): http://www.ptinews.com/pti_cms/gall_content/2014/5/2014_5$img23_May_2014_PTI5_23_2014_000137A-l.jpg
Source: http://www.ptinews.com/news/4742065_Herat-attack--Karzai-calls-up-Modi-to-promise-security.html

 

[datguy79]

Afghan TV just reported that Pakistani currency and documents were found on the attackers.

 

[Kaalapani]

Afghan TV just reported that Pakistani currency and documents were found on the attackers.

India -Iran-Afghanistan should form an alliance and gangrape pakistan daily.

 

[praneet.bajpaie]

Afghan TV just reported that Pakistani currency and documents were found on the attackers.

DG, Can you provide any links if possible? The Pakis will obviously deny this.

 

[MLRS]

This is a good infographic. It shows the bloodshed Pakis are willing to cause on Afghans, just to hurt a few Indians.

 

[Kaalapani]

This is a good infographic. It shows the bloodshed Pakis are willing to cause on Afghans, just to hurt a few Indians.

They want Afghans to be their slaves as simple as that.

 

[sesha_maruthi27]

Think the pakistani soldiers ave forgotten what the ITBP did to them in the 1971 war.....

Pakistan count your days......

 

[cobra commando]

Afghanistan bullish on military ties with India - The Hindu

 

[rock127]

AFG should now start thinking of how can have to be self sufficient in defending their country from Pakjabi aggression.

Things would be back to square one if Afgans don't do that.

Pakis would love to see Talibunnies take over AFG and keep Afgans as their slaves.

 

[Kaalapani]

AFG should now start thinking of how can have to be self sufficient in defending their country from Pakjabi aggression.

Things would be back to square one if Afgans don't do that.

Pakis would love to see Talibunnies take over AFG and keep Afgans as their slaves.

Stabilizing Afghan should be coupled with Dismantling Pakistan.

The best defence against pakistan is pure aggression.

 

[rock127]

Stabilizing Afghan should be coupled with Dismantling Pakistan.

The best defence against pakistan is pure aggression.

The answer is below...

 

[Samar Rathi]

Why India and China Matter to America's Afghanistan Drawdown Plan

Among the most consistent themes we heard throughout our travel in India and China was anxiety over developments in Afghanistan. While not a huge surprise—after all, there's plenty of concern about Afghanistan's trajectory here as well—it was useful to be reminded how New Delhi and Beijing perceive their interests, to hear their misgivings about U.S. drawdown plans, and to learn more about how India and China are attempting to manage the situation as it unfolds.

Afghanistan's history as a hub for anti-Indian terrorism (with Pakistani sponsorship), location bordering energy-rich Central Asia, opportunities for trade and investment, and longstanding cultural ties all motivate Indian interests there. In at least some Indian policy circles, there is also a tendency to read the impending U.S. military departure from Afghanistan as part of a broader shift: the waning of U.S. power and influence, or at least the narrowing of Washington's global ambition. The contrast with New Delhi and Beijing is sharp; in both of those rising Asian giants, uncommonly powerful, energetic leaders are now at the helm.

Resigned to the reality that U.S. forces are leaving Afghanistan sooner than many Indians think wise, New Delhi has agreed in principle to work with Russia to provide weapons to friendly Afghan forces. The crucial unanswered question is whether India will choose to make the arrangement operative. Since 9/11, Washington has always opposed Indian military involvement in Afghanistan, fearing that Pakistan would interpret it as a provocative escalation and start another round of externally-sponsored civil war. But as U.S. forces withdraw, sooner or later Washington will lose its effective veto power over Indian policies. If Afghan politics and security start to unravel, India will make its own calculations about the costs and benefits of greater intervention, whether by overt or (given the apparent predilections of its new national security advisor, Ajit Doval) covert means.

India is, however, doing more than just hedging against downside risk in Afghanistan. For years, New Delhi has contributed to a range of Afghan development projects. These include private sector efforts to encourage Indian investment in Afghanistan and to improve Afghan capacity to promote foreign investment on its own. As valuable as these private initiatives may be, they remain small-scale; all involved are painfully aware that they float on the waves of broader political and security developments.

China, like India, fears the consequences of an unstable Afghanistan and worries that the U.S. commitment will come up short. The good news is that Beijing has come to perceive that its near-term aims in Afghanistan are consistent with those of the United States: fighting terrorism and avoiding a relapse into civil war. To the extent the two sides disagree, it is over the specific sources of threat. China, for instance, views Uighur separatists as a more pressing concern than al-Qaeda.

Beijing appears remarkably eager to cooperate with the United States in Afghanistan. After years of standing aloof from regional multilateral efforts, Beijing is now deeply invested in the Istanbul Process, a ministerial-level dialogue that brings together all of Afghanistan's neighbors and major donors. Having decided to host the next conference in Tianjin, Chinese officials are eager to make it a meaningful event. They plan to link the group's efforts to China's own long-term scheme to develop a "New Silk Road" running through Central Asia all the way to Europe.

The success of that grand project will hinge, especially in the conflict-prone territories of South and Central Asia, on whether China learns how to translate its massive foreign investments into local good will and sustainable development. To this end, some Chinese officials suggest Beijing is trying to expand its regional expertise and capacity to understand the political dynamics in developing states. Such efforts have been spurred, in part, by China's disastrous failure to anticipate Myanmar's 2011 decision to suspend the Myitsone Dam project. With billions of dollars of Chinese investments already on the line in Afghanistan (and tens of billions planned for the vaunted China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), progress along these lines cannot come fast enough.

The more immediate problem for Beijing is Afghanistan's ongoing political uncertainty. Without a new government in Kabul, Chinese officials have already been forced to postpone the Istanbul Process conference once, and are likely to have trouble holding to the presently scheduled date of August 29, given anticipated delays in Afghanistan's election audit and negotiations between the presidential contenders. Beijing's hope—one undoubtedly shared by U.S. officials—is to use the meeting as a means to confer the international community's blessing on the next Afghan government. One way to deal with the problem would be to invite both of Afghanistan's presidential contenders to Tianjin, but Chinese officials are clearly reluctant to move ahead with what would be a diplomatically cumbersome alternative.

The news that Beijing has appointed a new special envoy for Afghanistan provides further evidence of China's decision to play a more active role in Afghanistan. It also suggests that Beijing intends to strike a more conciliatory and constructive posture on its western periphery than it has on its eastern front. For the United States, this is a welcome, if belated, development, and one worth encouraging.

Why India and China Matter to America's Afghanistan Drawdown Plan - Defense One

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Hey guys i will try to update it regularly but if anyone want to help then feel free to post.

@pmaitra , @bhramos , @Ray , @amoy , @CCP , @badguy2000