Pact to take Indo-Afghan ties to new highs

India and Afghanistan on Tuesday inked a historic ‘strategic agreement’ that will see India training and equipping the Afghan national security forces, a decision that appears to have been taken in view of the draw down of US troops in mind, and an increasingly belligerent and terror-patronising Pakistan in sight.

The agreement comes 15 years after the Taliban publicly executed former Afghanistan President Dr Najibullah and violently brought to an end the close security cooperation with India.

During the Najibullah regime India had a robust military training and intelligence sharing mechanism with Afghanistan. The agreement also happens to be the first of its kind the Karzai regime has signed with any country.

What has triggered Afghanistan’s tilt towards India is the recent assassination of Afghanistan High Peace Council chief Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was Karzai’s last hope of bringing the non-Pashtun Afghan tribes in a lasting reconciliation with the Taliban. Afghanistan has claimed it was carried out by Pakistan based Haqqani network, who the ISI refuses to clamp down on.

“India agrees to assist, as mutually determined, in the training, equipping and capacity building programmes for Afghan National Security Forces,” text of the Strategic agreement read.

The two sides also agreed to establish a ‘Strategic Dialogue’ to provide a framework for cooperation in the area of national security.

“The Dialogue will be led by NSAs and involve regular consultations with the aim of intensifying mutual efforts towards strengthening regional peace and security,” the agreement said.