| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| India Will Do All in Its Power to Promote Afghan Stability |
| 2013-05-23 |
[An Nahar] India said Wednesday it will do all within its means to promote stability in Afghanistan after visiting President Hamid Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtunface on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... said he had given a military "wishlist" to the Indian government. "We have a wishlist that we have put before the government of India," Karzai told news hounds in New Delhi, adding it was up to the Indian leadership to decide how much help it was willing to extend to Kabul. India's foreign ministry refused to detail what the "wishlist" contained but local media reports said it included light and heavy artillery, aircraft and small arms and ammunitions. "The leaders agreed that both countries will work together and will do all within their means to promote stability and security in Afghanistan," said Indian foreign ministry front man Syed Akbaruddin. Karzai's comments came after his office said last week that he would ask for "all kinds of assistance from India in order to strengthen our military and security institutions" during the high-level talks in the Indian capital. Karzai held closed-door talks late Tuesday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after a separate meeting with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee on his two-day trip which ended on Wednesday. India has been training a limited number of Afghan military officers for years at its military institutions, but has provided little weapons assistance except for some vehicles. India's support for Karzai is a reflection of its desire to ensure that the departure of the United States and other foreign forces in 2014 does not lead to the return of the radical Islamist Taliban to power in Kabul, analysts say. In 2011, India and Afghanistan began a "strategic partnership" to deepen security and economic ties. But Indian activity in Afghanistan has sparked unease in neighboring rival Pakistain which fears losing influence in Kabul. The former Taliban regime was allied with Pakistain and gave refuge to anti-Indian Islamist bad boys. A statement from Karzai's office in Kabul on Wednesday sought to underline its neighborly relations with both India and Pakistain while ruling out inviting Indian troops to the country after the U.S. pullout. "Afghanistan is a sovereign country and... has the right to choose its own friends. Pakistain is a neighbor, it is a close neighbor and the people of Pakistain have given Afghans refuge for 30 years," the statement said. "India is a traditional friend and ally, particularly so over the last 10 years," the Afghan statement added. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #3 Post-2014, China + India + Russia + now IRAN all want to make sure that any Hard Boyz from Afghanistan stay in Afghanistan. Kabul doesn't need to have any Border Troops because the US-NATO + Above are all going to have their own forces at or just inside the border(s). |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2013-05-23 22:38 |
| #2 Pave Pakistan - India could use the parking. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2013-05-23 22:17 |
| #1 all within its means to promote stability Does India have the means to obliterate Pakistan? Anything less won't do. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2013-05-23 10:52 |