Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai met in New Delhi on Monday and vowed to tackle the militant violence that threatens regional stability.
The talks came two months after nine Indians were killed in a suicide attack in Kabul that Indian officials blamed on Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
India is heavily involved in reconstruction and aid efforts in Afghanistan and has provided more than $1-billion in assistance since the fall of the Islamist Taliban regime in 2001.
“We discussed the issue of terrorism, which threatens our region,” Singh said. “President Karzai assured me that the government of Afghanistan will take all possible measures for the security of Indians in Afghanistan.”
Officials in New Delhi say groups such as the LeT have the tacit support of Pakistan’s military and have accused the militants of mounting attacks against Indians in Kabul as part of a south Asian “proxy war”.
Without mentioning Pakistan by name, Singh said the attacks in Kabul in February “were the handiwork of those who do not wish to see the emergence of a strong, independent and pluralistic Afghanistan”.
He stressed that the attacks would not undermine India’s commitment to the country.
India is also increasingly concerned over plans to open talks with “moderate” Taliban — a policy being pushed by many within the international coalition engaged in Afghanistan.
Karzai, en route to a meeting of South Asian leaders in Bhutan starting on Wednesday, said the two leaders had talked about the “peace jirga” planned in late May to bring together all of Afghanistan’s tribal leaders.
He said the jirga would give advice on how to reconcile those Taliban and other militants “who are not part of al-Qaeda, who are not part of any terrorist network”.
Strong doubts
India, which maintained warm relations with the United States under former president George Bush, has strong doubts about US President Barack Obama’s plans to withdraw from Afghanistan from next year.
It fears the United States is concentrating more on Pakistan’s stability rather than the security threat that Pakistan poses to India.
India’s embassy in Kabul was bombed last October and in July 2008, in what some observers see as a deliberate campaign to force India to pull out.
New Delhi has poured money into Afghanistan and become an influential partner of the government in Kabul — to Islamabad’s growing concern.
India also blames the LeT for the Mumbai attacks in November 2008 that left 166 people dead and worsened already acrimonious ties with arch-rival and neighbour Pakistan. The LeT and the Pakistani government deny involvement.
India, which has repeatedly urged the global community to “stay the course” in Afghanistan, is worried that Pakistan and the Taliban could assume key roles in the country once foreign troops begin their pull-out.
About 4 000 Indians are building roads, sanitation projects and power lines in Afghanistan. India is also building the new Afghan parliament.
Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan have fought three wars since the subcontinent’s 1947 partition and remain at loggerheads over the disputed region of Kashmir, which they administer jointly but claim in full. — AFP