Unrest in Afghanistan worries India

The deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan has become a major worry for India, which has expended both political and financial capital in backing President Hamid Karzai’s government in Kabul.

The President was in Shimla on Thursday on a private visit, a day ahead of his official engagement which includes the second Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan, jointly hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Karzai.

The stake-holders engaged in the reconstruction of Afghanistan will meet to review the progress made so far and discuss what more can be done. India has committed US $650 million for projects in that country and has a huge work force there. Two Indians have been beheaded by the Taliban already, and New Delhi’s worries have magnified since the resurgence of a staunchly anti-Indian force with close links to Pakistan.

President Karzai is alleged to have said for the first time, since assuming power that he is willing to talk to the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and Commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a major Taliban supporter. Hekmatyar, a warlord, is said to be close to Pakistan’s ISI. Indian officials have denied any possibility of Karzai doing a deal with the Taliban. “This is really an old Pakistani view about good and bad Taliban. India believes all Taliban are dangerous and a threat to civilization,” says a senior Indian official.

Karzai, sources said, relies on the US and the international community for support and is guarded by US marines. He cannot afford to have a deal with the Taliban, without the US backing him. For the Bush administration, waging a global war on terror to now make friends with the regime loyal to Osama Bin Laden and the Al Qaeda, is unthinkable.