Shivshankar Menon met president Hamid Karzai, who assured him that he would do his best to provide security to Indians working in Afghanistan.
National security adviser (NSA) Shivshankar Menon flew into Afghanistan’s capital on Friday to review security following the attack on Indians there last month.
Menon met president Hamid Karzai, who assured him that he would do his best to provide security to Indians working in Afghanistan. However, India knows that there is little that the government can do to protect those working outside the capital, Kabul.
Even in Kabul, recent attacks showed how vulnerable the 4,000-odd Indians working there are.
Talks will centre on how to ensure that Indian civilians are protected. It may mean sending in more Indo-Tibetan Police Force personnel, who now protect embassies and consulates, and extend their mandate to provide security to Indians in Taliban-infested areas like Jalalabad and Kandahar. Decisions will be taken only after Menon gets a proper picture and works out details with the Afghan government after consultations with New Delhi.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh made it clear in Parliament on Friday that India will not be frightened to continue its rehabilitation and reconstruction work in Afghanistan. No nation can cower in submission to terror threats; India is in Afghanistan for the long haul, he said.
The NSA’s interaction with Karzai and senior ministers will give him a ringside view of the great game that is being played out by different powers in the war-ravaged country.
Significantly, Pakistan’s bid to become a major political player in Afghanistan and what happens after US and Nato forces leave will be some issues Menon will discuss with Karzai and his team. Menon’s brief will be to ensure enhanced security for Indians working in rehabilitation and self-help programmes initiated by New Delhi.
Pakistan’s game plan is to use the Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Taiba to strike at Indian interests in Afghanis-tan and force New Delhi to abandon its projects there. This is why New Delhi was furious when US special envoy for Af-Pak Richard Holbrooke said in Washington that Indians were not the target of the terror strike in Kabul.
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