Afghanistan News & Discussion

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 29 Apr 2015 09:04

Agnimitra, China's task is also not easy. If it needs to forge a stable inter-state relationship among Afghanistan-Pakistan-China in order to pillage and loot the natural resources of Af-Pak, it needs to contend with Iran, India, and Saudi Arabia also, apart from Russia. It will not be easy for China to reconcile the Taliban differences with the civilian government. Then of course, there are Uzbeks, Panjshiris et al. to be taken care of as well. The Taliban-PA-LeT nexus cannot deliver complete stability and China would not commit forces to Afghanistan. Any misstep could also lead to flareups in Xinjiang. China cannot completely seal the Wakhan Corridor. As Amb. Stobadan said, the Brits, Soviets and the Americans have tried before. Let China also try.

India's task is cut out now. We can no more let things drift. Proactive policies are needed from Balochistan to Kabul.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 29 Apr 2015 09:23

If the PA-Taliban-LeT nexus reins in the violence, then the Uzbeks, Panjshiris, etc will have no problem as long as their economic interests are also tended to. As for Iran, China is one of the reasons Pak is not getting into an anti-Iran axis over Yemen. Saudi will be the only fourfather to placate one way or the other. As for the US, I do not think China would make such a major move without some connivance from the US, which has clearly allowed China to enter the area gradually over the years as it withdraws. IMHO, part of US thinking is to attract Iran (via opportunities) to its east, while creating a desired balance between Saudi-Turkey-Iran-Israel in W.Asia.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 29 Apr 2015 14:38

Iran and Bakistan have far too many competing interests. It starts with the tussle for the leadership of the Islamic world and Shia/Sunni tussle right down to becoming the gateway to Central Asia. Plus there are far too many competing interests in Afghanistan both amongst inside and outside players for a clear control to emerge anytime soon, one that will allow safe transit for pipelines, rail links, etc. A 10 year window should be good enough for a resurgent India under Modi to be able to exert more influence.

If we are unable to exert much influence inside Afghanistan then we must apply pressure inside Bakistan. Actually we should threat the whole AfPAK as one theater of operation. An attack against out interests inside Afghanistan must draw a response inside Bakistan. The Dove is getting undue attention in Bakistan not for his past exploits but for his future plans.

Highly desired but unlikely> We must have so much influence inside bakistan (to disrupt) that the cheenis would need our cooperation to ensure safe passage of their goods and return on investment on their projects inside bakistan. We don't need Bak transit unless it is for oil and gas from Iran and Central Asia and transit to Afghanistan. That would also allow us to control transit via Afghanistan.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 29 Apr 2015 19:01

Agnimitra wrote: As for the US, I do not think China would make such a major move without some connivance from the US, which has clearly allowed China to enter the area gradually over the years as it withdraws.

No question about this -- Karzai was forced out for being pro-India and the US messed with the elections cleverly to ensure a pro-Paki stooge was in charge of afghanisthan. Now, even the ANA is to be trained by the pakis. Let's face it -- GoI got its butt kicked pretty severely in Afghanisthan this round. Maybe even for the long term, unless the pakis are taken down a notch or two with a vengeance.

Dipanker · Post by **Dipanker** » 29 Apr 2015 19:06

So finally realty is setting in on Afghan front, it was only a matter of time once the the US made a conscious decision to allow Paki,Taliban, and Chinese a stake in Afghanistan future. We squandered billions in Afghanistan and now don't have much to show for it. What was the objective? And who made these stupids decisions to waste India's scarce resources?

As has been said time and again, "soft power" can only go so far, without the support of hard power.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 29 Apr 2015 20:28

India was being asked to put boots on the ground so that they could be made a chump as the US withdraws. The chinese do not have the baggage with pakistan like India, and they have the cash to rent pakistan for now, so they are now in the driver's seat along with the US and Pakistan in Afghanisthan.

This outcome was obvious 2 years ago, when NATO and the US deliberately kept India out of Afghanisthan talks unless India committed its troops on the ground, and started building an official Afghan Taliban headquarters in Qatar, and William Dulllpimple pimped out his services to the Brookings institution to rewrite Afghan history and pretend that it was all a Pakistan-India problem.

All the IFS exberts in the MEA and the likes of shashi Tharoor sing daily paeans to "Soft Power" of India, while at the same time decrying any moves to strengthen the military arms of the state. The average guy on the street understands that soft power is worthless without the hard power to back it up...and unfortunately it is the former crowd that gets its views out to the youth and the lay public and softens them up for all the mind games played by Pakistan and China and other enemies of India. Even now, the Indian express reports Nawaz Sharif's "India is not talking to us" without also pointing out that Pakistan has closed the 26/11 case and allowed the prepetrator to go free.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 29 Apr 2015 21:19

Iran will have hard time pleasing all DC, Peking and Moscow-King simultaneously while competing with
Abdullahs of sunni world. Same goes for Paki . Just too many conflicting interests for each party in Afghanistan plus they all have the history of fighting, stabbing, shadow boxing with each other .

arun · Post by **arun** » 30 Apr 2015 07:14

X Posted from the STFUP thread.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s bombastic talk of becoming the “hub” for trade with Central Asia is likely to turn to dust if Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s words indeed reflects the reality of Afghnaistan’s position.

Excerpt from Suhasini Haider’s interview of Ashraf Ghani where he says that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan will only be permitted access to Tajikisatn if Afghanistan gets access to India:

One of the subjects both you and PM Modi mentioned was the possibility of India being included in, or be a beneficiary of the Afghanistan Pakistan Transit and Trade Agreement (APTTA). How is that realistic, given that Pakistan has opposed the trade from Afghanistan to India directly, i.e. to Attari since the agreement was signed in 2011?

Regional cooperation requires a legal free-flow of goods and people. We are not asking Pakistan for any exceptional treatment. We are asking Pakistan for “national treatment”. Pakistani trucks come all the way to Attari. Why should Afghan trucks stop at Wagah? It’s a major cost for that distance, to load, unload and re-load. It is an incredible imposition on the cost of business. Sovereign states deal with sovereign equality. If we are not given equal transit access, then we will not provide equal transit access to Central Asia.

Is that something you have taken up with the Pakistani leadership?

Yes. We are clear. In our talks with the Commerce Minister of Pakistan (Khurram Dastgir) we have made it clear that it needs to be reciprocal. Relations between countries, especially when it comes to business, if there were significant reasons, if we had not accorded national treatment to Pakistani trucks, then we could have understood.

The national treatment clause is in the APTTA. So what you are saying is that if Pakistan continues to deny Afghan trucks access to bring their wares all the way to India, Afghanistan will cut off their trucks access directly to the countries in Central Asia?

We don’t want to reach that level, but equality in all principles is a must. That is what I am saying.

Is there a timeline on these? Because similarly, the motor vehicles agreement will need access through Pakistan…

Not on the APTTA, but yes, we (India and Afghanistan) will sign the motor vehicles agreement within three months.

From the Hindu:

‘Our people are killed to show a spectacle’

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 30 Apr 2015 14:11

The only thing in Indian interest in Afghanistan is to get the warring groups to keep fighting.
Till we get direct access to that god forsaken land.

The policies of economic help and aid are/were devised by the west which backs its military to reach everywhere. No need to waste precious economic and diplomatic resources there. Support the weaker side with help from Russia/Iran and keep the country unstable.

An unstable Afghanistan will be a pain both for China and Pakistan.

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 01 May 2015 02:31

Pakistan must open Wagah for trade: Ghani

Says it should allow Afghan trucks to cross over to Indian checkpoint at Attari.

Signalling that Afghanistan is upset with Pakistan over its refusal to allow direct trade with India via the Wagah border, President Ashraf Ghani says that if the deadlock continues, “We will not provide equal transit access to Central Asia [for Pakistani trucks].”

Comments: Remains to be seen if he is serious, in implementing, what he is saying !

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 01 May 2015 02:45

Comments: Remains to be seen if he is serious, in implementing, what he is saying !

Fjeeji, I wager Ghani cannot be taken seriously -- his policies seem to be all about sucking up to pakistan, either because of coercion or whatever. All Pakistan had to do was unleash a terror attack on him before his India visit to make him see straight. Besides, what kind of trade can pakis actually do with central asian countries, which are possibly even poorer than pakistan?

member_23692 · Post by **member_23692** » 03 May 2015 04:52

Tuvaluan wrote:
Comments: Remains to be seen if he is serious, in implementing, what he is saying !
Fjeeji, I wager Ghani cannot be taken seriously -- his policies seem to be all about sucking up to pakistan, either because of coercion or whatever. All Pakistan had to do was unleash a terror attack on him before his India visit to make him see straight. Besides, what kind of trade can pakis actually do with central asian countries, which are possibly even poorer than pakistan?

+ 100.

Pakis convinced the Americans to allow them to steal the election for Ghani. Ghani is the PAki's man in Kabul. What more does he have to do to convince some of us who are still trying to look for "balance" in him, whatever the word "balance" means. No body other than some Indians are even pretending, even Pakis or Americans or even Ghani himself, that he is not Pakistan's man in Kabul. Maybe some of us know something about Ghani that Ghani doesnt know himself ? I suggest we take Ghani at his word.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 05 May 2015 18:38

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 505_1.html

17 taliban militants killed in US drone strike

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 05 May 2015 19:11

Falijee wrote:Pakistan must open Wagah for trade: Ghani

Only trade India must do with Pakistan at this point is to trade WKKs, Seculars and Presstitutes in return for Hindus.

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 06 May 2015 06:30

US Inspector General Wonders Where the Aid Money Disappeared

Sopko says that “just as doctors must be willing to face the truth about whether a treatment is working, we in the United States must be willing to face the truth” about how effectively the more than $100 billion invested in Afghanistan reconstruction has been spent. Add to that the more than $700 billion in military operations since the U.S. first intervened in Afghanistan in late 2001 and the human costs–the lives of more than 2,000 U.S. service members, another thousand from coalition countries, and more than 13,000 Afghan army and police. The number of civilians casualties is estimated to be more than 21,000, according to Costs of War, a nonprofit scholarly initiative based at Brown University.

Sopko says “that much of the official happy talk on health should be taken with a grain of salt—iodized, of course, to prevent informational goiter.”

That’s right: a student who has not attended school in nearly three years is still considered as “enrolled.” That’s like saying a spouse who packed up and left three years ago is still committed to you.

Comment: Damning report on a failed mission ! US taxpayers on the hook .

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 06 May 2015 16:38

http://www.ibtimes.co.in/farkhunda-lync ... rge-631472

Possible in Afghanistan, not in Pakistan; specifically, a mullah has been sentenced to death (not apparent in the news below):

Four people have been sentenced to death for the brutal lynching of Farkhunda, an Afghan woman who was falsely accused of burning the Quran in March.

Eight others who were found guilty of violence in the lynching have been sentenced to 16 years each, according to Afghanistan's Tolo news agency.

Farkhunda was beaten to death and her body burnt by an angry mob on 19 March, after they accused her of burning the holy book.

A video of the savage lynching was widely shared online, sparking global anger at the incident.

After the gruesome incident, the local media had reported that Farkhunda was killed for speaking out against a mullah of the Shah-e-Do Shamshera Mosque, who she had blamed of deceiving people by handing out false "tawiz" -- a paper containing Quranic verses worn by Afghans as a good luck charm and to ward off evil.

Of the 49 suspects, the judge delivered the sentence for 30, while the others will face their verdict on Sunday.

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 06 May 2015 16:58

Two sides of a corrupt Afghan warlord

The local warlord, Matiullah Khan approached the coalition leaders and offered to broker a meeting between the local leaders who believed that a NATO soldier had stabbed the Koran, and the coalition leaders who knew that the charges were false. Dutch authorities considered Matiullah a criminal and refused to work with him. The new coalition leaders decided that although Matiullah had in all likelihood committed illegal acts, as a tribal leader, he was best placed to defuse the situation.

Matiullah Khan was a quiet, enigmatic tribal leader who rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Afghan National Police. He cared deeply for his people, despised the Taliban, and was instrumental in maintaining security in the region. He worked closely with the coalition to eliminate Taliban influence in Uruzgan. By working with Matiullah and the other leaders in Uruzgan, all different shades of gray, we were able to dramatically increase the volume of goods in all provincial bazars, build a 42-kilometer asphalt road from Tarin Kowt to Chora, more than double the number of children in school, and all but eliminate Taliban Influence in the province.

Matiullah Khan was killed in a targeted suicide bombing in Kabul in March 2015.

Comment: Preview of things to come ?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 May 2015 20:35

The $100B money went back to US via contractors inflated salaries. etc.
It was 'dhono haath meh laddoo' for defense contractors who hired pot-bellied retirees and sent them to support the troops.
And a lot went to TSP as baksheesh.

Comer · Post by **Comer** » 13 May 2015 22:09

Breaking: Terrorists enter a guesthouse in Kabul
http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/gunmen-s ... bul-762895

Kawoon Khamoosh
‏@KawoonKhamoosh
"Insurgents taught Indian ambassador stays in this guest house."
-Zia Massoud govt special envoy visiting attack scene told @MahmoudMobaarez

Does he mean thought?

‏

@MahmoudMobaarez
#AhmadZiaMassoud to me: insurgents thought indian embassoder is in the hotel, it can be a political attack, some indian artist are still in.

gandharva · Post by **gandharva** » 14 May 2015 03:00

Gunmen Attack Hotel in Central Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan — An attack on a central Kabul hotel late Wednesday by several gunmen left police forces scrambling and raised the specter of targeted attacks in the capital even as violence has surged elsewhere in Afghanistan.

Gunfire continued to erupt around the Park Palace Hotel into early Thursday morning, though the number and degree of casualties remained unclear. Police units descended on the hotel after as many as five attackers entered the building.

The United States Embassy said in a statement that an American citizen had been killed in the attack, according to The Associated Press.

A foreign diplomatic official said that at least two Indian citizens had been killed in the attack. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that many of the guests inside were Indian auditors and staff members for nongovernmental organizations.

The Park Palace Hotel, located in a wealthier part of the city, once housed staff members of the United Nations in Afghanistan, though the agency has moved employees to other locations. The hotel is near several international aid agencies and a hospital.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/gunmen-atta ... 1431542558

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 14 May 2015 06:25

We need to retaliate in Sri Lanka. Nepal is out of the question with the quake. Target the embassy and kill as many diplomatic staff as possible.

arun · Post by **arun** » 14 May 2015 17:03

More on the Kabul attack.

Afghan media article that Indian Ambassador was the target for attack on Kabul guest house per Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s special envoy for good governance, Ahmad Zia Massoud :

Militants attacked Kabul guesthouse thinking Indian ambassador was present

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 14 May 2015 19:55

X-post..

SSridhar wrote:
Jhujar wrote:Cricket with Poakroacheds!!
http://www.promptexecutivehire.co.uk/index.php
Militants attacked Kabul guesthouse thinking Indian ambassador was present
It is an ISI-LeT-Haqqani joint operation, as usual.

Now that China has established itself firmly in Pakistan and would be doing so sooner in Afghanistan, the Pakistani bravado will go skyhigh. We should expect attacks on Indian interests in Afghanistan. Pakistan may try to attack Indian borders as well.

Ghani is a Paki-Taliban stooge. Yet Pak sarkari terrorists attack Afghanistan.

Looks like Ghani allows pakis sarakari terrorists to attack Indians in Afghanistan.

Kabul Embassy redux.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 15 May 2015 17:48

I saw on TV last night, the bodies of the dead Indian NGOs being brougt back. I don't know what their political affiliation is, but they are dead Indians, and thats all that matters. Very sad. And I tuned in to US govt mouthpieces news outlets, very scant coverage of their munna's act if at all.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 15 May 2015 18:05

ramana wrote: Kabul Embassy redux.

Me think this is nothing but necessary display of sadism on the eve of Modi's china visit.

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 16 May 2015 11:19

I am very excited to see Pakistan doing biz with Central Asian nations thur' Afghanistan. ISIS pirates are just waiting on the roads

http://www.idsa.in/issuebrief/ISISinCen ... 21014.html

C A P are doomed for sure .

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 16 May 2015 11:32

Larger implications in future for India. Afghanistan and Pakistan are just buffer for sometime before this isisnake gulps them

It suggests that the ISIS is looking for nuclear material. Reports on various websites indicate that ISIS has a separate Kazakh Jamaat perhaps called Jamaat Daoud consisting not only of Kazakh fightersbut also Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Nogais, Karachaevs, Russians, Ossetians, Dagestanis, Chechens, Tajiks, Arabs, and a German. Kazakhstan may face lesser threat from ISIS but the country could remain a source for new recruit, especially from Southern regions like Jambul, Chemkent and Kizil-Orda. Certainly, Kazakhstan could eventually become source of funding for jihadis groups fighting in Syria and Af-Pak.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 19 May 2015 02:58

In Taliban peace bid, Ashraf Ghani orders spies to end war on ISI.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has ordered the country’s intelligence service to end a bloody campaign of retaliatory covert action against Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, in a bid to secure Islamabad’s support for talks with the Taliban leadership expected to unfold this summer, government sources in Kabul and New Delhi have told The Indian Express.

The decision, the sources said, was formalised in an agreement signed last week, committing Afghanistan’s Riyasat Amniyat e-Milli, or National Defence Service, to share intelligence and facilitate interrogation of suspects by the ISI.

President Ghani’s decision comes even as Kabul has decided to issue passports to over 200 active Taliban jihadists operating from Pakistan, in an effort to facilitate communications between them and negotiators for the group now stationed in Doha. The Taliban’s negotiators are believed to currently be using Pakistani passports.

New Delhi is watching President Ghani’s high-stakes peace gamble warily from the sidelines—concerned that it could spark off rebellion from leaders of ethnic minority groups in the country, as well as anti-Pakistan Pashtuns, undermining the country’s fragile polity.

“Frankly”, a senior government official in New Delhi said, “our assessment is that this peace bid is more likely to spark off a civil war than result in a peace deal”

Kabul newspaper Hasht-e-Subh reported that Rahamatullah Nabil, the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence intelligence service, refusing to sign the agreement, leaving the task to a deputy. In a press conference on Monday, NDS spokesperson Haseeb Sediqi denied reports that the agreement would lead to the training of Afghan intelligence personnel by Pakistan. He added that the agreement was in “the interests of both countries”.
“I can understand why the NDS would be so angry about this deal”, said Vikram Sood, a former chief of India’s Research and Analysis Wing. “Its being asked to give up its trump card, and display its hand, with no guarantee its going to get anything in return”.

The intelligence-sharing deal, informed sources in Kabul said, was hammered out during a secret visit by ISI chief Lieutenant-General Rizwan Akhtar to Kabul early this month. In one-on-one meetings with President Ghani, Lieutenant-General Akhtar asked for the termination of Afghan intelligence ties to jihadist groups fighting against

Hard evidence had emerged of the NDS’ links with Pakistani jihadist groups in 2013, after United States special forces snatched top Tehreek-e-Taliban leader Latif Mehsud, while he was on his way to a meeting with the NDS. Aimal Faizi, former president Hamid Karzai’s spokesperson, publicly said that the NDS had been working with Latif “was part of an NDS project like every other intelligence agency is doing [sic]”.
In addition, the NDS is believed to have run an assassination campaign targetting top Pakistan-based jihadists—one of whom, Nasiruddin Haqqani, was killed at his Islamabad home, blowing apart Pakistan’s claims it had no knowledge of his whereabouts.

The NDS’ cultivation of Pakistani jihadists had begun in 2006-2007, to retaliate against the ISI’s sponsorship of the Haqqani Network—a Taliban affiliate based in Pakistan’s North Waziristan, which was described by former United States military chief Admiral Mike Mullen as “a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Agency”.

In 2008, the United States intercepted communications between Haqqani commanders with ISI officers, who directed attacks on its embassy, and that of India, in Kabul.

Following the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, highly-placed government sources in New Delhi said, former National Security Advisor MK Narayanan had tasked India’s Research and Analysis Wing to explore the prospect of targeting the Lashkar-e-Taiba through Afghanistan. The project, however, did not secure the approval of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government.

The intelligence sharing deal has come in for harsh criticism in the Wolesi Jirga, Afghanistan’s lower house of parliament, with Members of Parliament demanding that NDS chief Nabil be summoned to testify before them. First Deputy of the Wolesi Jirga, Zahir Qadeer, ordered parliament’s security and international relations commission to summon National Security Council officials to explain the situation to the house.
President Ghani’s spokesperson, Ajmal Abedi, said that “the memordandum of understanding between Afghanistan and Pakistan is not a new thing. In the past, both institutions had such agreements, but now the focus is on fighting terrorism”.

In 2007, Turkey had brokered an intelligence sharing pact between the governments of General Pervez Musharraf and President Hamid Karzai. However, the two countries remained locked in an adversarial relationship, after Pakistan failed to rein in the activities of the Quetta-based leadership of the Taliban.

Eight Afghan military personnel for sent for training in Pakistan this summer, in a military confidence-building measure that provoked sharp criticism from Afghan lawmakers, who described Pakistan as an enemy state.

arun · Post by **arun** » 19 May 2015 05:53

^^^ X Posting below.

Voice of America reports that former head of Afghanistan’s Spy Agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Amrullah Saleh is critical of the deal between the NDS and Intelligence agency of the Uniformed Jihadi’s of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s notorious terrorist fomenting Intelligence agency the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate aka ISID aka ISI:

“Intelligence cooperation with ISI means doubting Pakistani duplicity in terror, dishonoring ANDSF's (Afghan National Defense Security Forces) sacrifices and falling in the trap of deception,”

Afghan MPs Criticize Kabul Ties With Pakistan's Spy Agency

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 19 May 2015 16:32

Major Blast Reported in Kabul in the heavily fortified Diplomatic Enclave. Seems all Indians are safe - so far. Times Now Breaking

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 19 May 2015 19:03

JE Menon wrote:Major Blast Reported in Kabul in the heavily fortified Diplomatic Enclave. Seems all Indians are safe - so far. Times Now Breaking

And they want intelligence sharing with the culprits

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 20 May 2015 04:42

India willing to manage Afghan air traffic control

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 20 May 2015 20:52

RoyG wrote:
JE Menon wrote:Major Blast Reported in Kabul in the heavily fortified Diplomatic Enclave. Seems all Indians are safe - so far. Times Now Breaking
And they want intelligence sharing with the culprits

What do secularists in Af-Pak say to the intelligence sharing between those who attack Afghanistan and Afghans? Or other forms of peace pipe smoking such as decreasing counter-intelligence, and so on. Secularism in Afghanistan must be fully active these days. Some info will be helpful.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 20 May 2015 23:20

Pseculars in India would support anything that hurts India. In this case if TSP benefits so much the better per them.

prahaar · Post by **prahaar** » 21 May 2015 00:26

KJo wrote:India willing to manage Afghan air traffic control

This is big news if Afghanistan gives India, the management of ATC. How would ATC maintain control without any coercive mechanisms at hand? For example, currently USAF assets must be in Afghanistan to ensure that those who do not comply with ATC , are compelled or stopped. How would India's management of ATC happen in absence of air assets?

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 21 May 2015 13:11

I cat remember a time in the recent past when a sitting president / prime minister has a serious fall out with his intelligence chief. The only place where that happens now is in Afghanistan. Ridiculous that he is named Ghani and that bit is part of the name of their country too.

On a sidenote: I really doubt if Pakisatan will allow Indians to control Af ATC. They will suddenly be worried about a lot more of drones / flying objects in NWFP, FATA etc etc.

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 21 May 2015 13:12

And predictably, now we have this too:

afghan-president-under-pressure-to-scrap-intel-sharing-deal-with-pakistan

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 21 May 2015 13:26

Afghanistan is again going to get bloody. Be sure of it. The Pakistanis are playing their games, as usual and as expected. They are of the impression that they are smarter than everyone else in theater. Times have changed though.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 21 May 2015 17:04

Since the pakistanis would not have been in the game if the Americans had not backed them and messed with afghan elections to put Ghani in Charge, one can expect the US to back the pakistanis when it comes to creating mayhem in Afghanisthan. So Pakistanis are not quite alone in Afghanisthan. This point is made by Sri GP in another thread in the "best buddies" section. X-posting SSridhar's post from Indo-US relations thread.

SSridhar wrote:India still a pawn on the strategy board - G.Parthasarathy, Business Line
Ever since the Nixon-Mao honeymoon commenced in 1971, India has periodically faced an alliance of the US, an avowed champion of democratic freedoms, China, a one-party communist state, and Pakistan, a theocratic Sunni state more often than not ruled by its military. The visceral dislike that these three countries displayed in 1971 towards India is well documented.

The Clinton administration thereafter spent its first six years in office almost exclusively focused on an effort to “cap, roll back and eliminate” India’s nuclear programme while deliberately turning a blind eye to China’s transfer of nuclear weapons designs, uranium enrichment capabilities, plutonium production and reprocessing technology, and missile production facilities to Pakistan. This was coupled with pressures on India on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, including through the establishment of contacts with Hurriyat separatists. Even today, the US seldom raises its voice against the violation of NSG guidelines by China when it supplies nuclear reactors to Pakistan.

A viable balance

There were certainly welcome changes in the US approach to India during the George Bush Jr presidency, most notably symbolised by the India-US Nuclear Deal which cleared the way for the end of global nuclear sanctions that India had faced earlier. While India did not get overly concerned about Colin Powell declaring Pakistan a “major non-NATO ally”, there were early warning signs about the propensities of the incoming Obama administration to re-hyphenate relations with India and Pakistan. There were also concerns when Beijing was virtually given the role of jointly overseeing developments in South Asia with Washington. But the hard realities of Chinese assertiveness and global ambitions soon challenged American interests. India became an important partner for the US, primarily to preserve American global supremacy, by establishing a viable balance of power in Asia.

India does find itself well positioned by its partnership with the US in its ‘Look East’ policies, especially in forums like the East Asia Summit and when working with countries such as Japan, Australia and Vietnam. One must, however, acknowledge that while we have tried to be on the same page with the Obama administration on developments in Afghanistan, things have changed substantially, ever since Osama bin Laden was killed by US navy seals in Abbottabad.

As far as President Obama was concerned, the killing really marked the beginning of “Mission Accomplished” in Afghanistan. It made no sense any longer for the US to expend Americans lives and resources in that country. A process of “reconciliation” with the Taliban, which was no longer described as a “terrorist organisation”, but as an “insurgent group”, commenced.

Best buddies

In these circumstances, US policy on Pakistan shifted from one of ‘carrot and stick’ to one of ‘carrots’ alone. The Kerry-Lugar legislation cleared the way for a resumption of military assistance to the tune of around $1 billion. What is, however, amazing, is the manner in which the process of “reconciliation” with the Taliban has been conducted.

While professing that this process is “Afghan-led” and “Afghan-owned”, the US has actually co-opted China and Pakistan as the lead players in virtually guiding the so-called “reconciliation” process. China, which has hardly provided any economic assistance to Afghanistan and only sought to exploit its natural resources after the ouster of the Taliban regime with which it had a cosy relationship, now hosts Taliban delegations in Beijing. Amidst all this, the Taliban attacks the Park Palace Guest House in Kabul where Indian expatriates reside, killing four Indian nationals. Washington, enamoured by the Taliban and reportedly prepared to accept Taliban nominees as governors of southern Afghan provinces, was too preoccupied to condemn this attack.

The recent controversy over alleged Pakistani army collusion in the killing of Osama bin Laden actually saw an influential former CIA official tell CNN that it was the CIA’s assessment that only low-level ISI officials may have known of bin Laden’s whereabouts. He added that the CIA was persuaded that neither army chief Gen Kayani nor ISI chief Shuja Pasha had any knowledge of bin Laden’s presence, barely 40 km away from the capital Islamabad. Yet, one of Pakistan’s most distinguished journalists, Najam Sethi, revealed that even President Musharraf knew that bin Laden was in Abbottabad!

Recognising the reality

New Delhi has to recognise that the support it has got from the Obama administration in nailing the 26/11 perpetrators has been lukewarm. While Denmark received preferred access to David Headley, we were made to cool our heels for months. Moreover, under US law, the mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and others can be tried in US courts as six US nationals were killed in Mumbai. The fact that the US is not prepared to do this indicates a lack of seriousness on its part to bring the perpetrators of 26/11 to justice, evidently because such an action will expose the role of the ISI.

A recent report of the US Congressional Research Service has revealed that in its desperation to get Pakistani support for a smooth withdrawal from Afghanistan, the US is set to supply Pakistan a number of its surplus weapons in Afghanistan, under its ‘excess defence articles’ (EDA) provisions. Logically the US should be providing the weapons it is leaving behind under the EDA scheme to Afghanistan which lacks air power and logistical assets, apart from heavy equipment such as armoured personnel carriers. Washington is instead gifting Pakistan with 14 advanced F-16 A/B Fighting Falcon strike aircraft, 59 T-37 military trainer jets and 374 M-113 armoured personnel carriers. The Obama administration is working with Rawalpindi, not only to legitimise and empower the Taliban, but also to freely enhance its air power and armoured capabilities.

While the Obama administration wishes to use New Delhi to counter the rising power of China, it appears simultaneously set on undermining India’s security with its doublespeak on terrorism and its policies on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Is this what the “India-US strategic partnership” is all about?

The author is a former High Commissioner to Pakistan

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 21 May 2015 17:40

JE Menon wrote:Afghanistan is again going to get bloody. Be sure of it. The Pakistanis are playing their games, as usual and as expected. They are of the impression that they are smarter than everyone else in theater. Times have changed though.

+108.

It is in humanity's interests to let Pakis enter Afghanistan where human-rights orgs dont exist/dont care.