New Delhi
21 January 2010
Buoyed by a groundswell of goodwill for her development assistance in
Afghanistan, India is expected to use the January 25 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
meeting in Moscow and the January 28 London Conference to coordinate her approaches
with the US, UK, Russia and other governments, and to float new initiatives that will
complement the Afghan-led rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.
The new initiatives are likely to be the in the areas of agriculture, capacity-building,
training and exchange of experts. India is already training a few Afghan security force
personnel, and their number could go up if the Afghan Government makes a request. It
will dovetail with the efforts of the US and its NATO allies to draw up a tentative timetable
for enabling the Afghans to gradually assume a leading role in security matters, at the
centre and in the provinces.
India will advocate a regional framework of cooperation that will integrate Afghanistan
into the South Asian economic community and transform it into a transport and energy
hub. An overland trade transit route between India and Afghanistan will be crucial to this
endeavour, but Pakistan, wary of increasing India's role in Afghanistan, has so far
resisted it.
Notwithstanding her aversion to distinguishing between good and bad Taliban, India has
indicated that she will not resist the reintegration of former combatants, provided it is
Afghan-led and it is carried out in a manner that should not send a signal of weakness to
the extremist fringe. The pace, modality, finance and time table for reintegration could be
determined by the Afghans themselves.
India has pledged more than 1.2 billion dollars, making her one of Afghanistan's largest
partners. A hallmark of India's support is that the projects are Afghan-driven and aimed
at building up local capacity. India's assistance has been lauded by the international
community, most recently by US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates during his visit here
for talks with Indian leadership.
Minister of External Affairs SM Krishna will represent India at the London conference, to
be co-hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Afghanistan President Hamid
Karzai and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. According to Ambassador
Chinmaya Gharekhan (retd), the conference could see a diplomatic surge as there is a
near universal acknowledgement that the war in Afghanistan cannot be won by military
means alone. Mr Gharekhan is a former Permanent Representative of India to the United
Nations in New York. He has served as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special
envoy for West Asia.
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