India to train Afghan Army

NEW DELHI: In a move that has surprised many observers within the government, a dozen Indian army officers and some 30 soldiers are set to move to Kabul to train the fledgling Afghan Army.

The move comes at a time when Afghanistan is in a chaos as the threat of Taliban resurgence is spreading.

Army officers here say that the 12 officers would mostly be from the infantry and Army Education Corps, and would leave for Kabul in the next couple of weeks. Their primary role would be to provide language skills, meaning English training, map reading, basic weapon handling etc to the Afghan Army officers.

Afghanistan has an army that is being built from the post-Taliban debris, and which has to ultimately take over the entire land operations from the international troops. Several foreign countries including the US, France, UK and others are involved in the training of the army.

The Indian move is sure to ruffle feathers in Pakistan and further complicate India’s situation in Afghanistan, where over 300 Border Road Organisation personnel are working on the Zaranj-Delaram road link. Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel have been deployed there to protect the BRO people at work.

At least two Indians, including a BRO driver, have been killed till now in Afghanistan.

The Army officers said the 12 officers and support staff would be based in Kabul. It is not clear if they would be working at the Kabul Military Training Centre, where the basic training for soldiers is held.