Karzai Seeks Indian Military Aid       05/19 15:29

   KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai will seek increased 
military aid from India during a three-day visit starting Monday and will 
discuss recent cross-border clashes with Pakistan, India's archrival, an aide 
said.

   The comments follow a weekend report by the Times of India that said 
Afghanistan's ambassador to India had said the country needs India's help with 
"equipment and weapons to fight." The Press Trust of India later quoted a 
spokesman for New Delhi's Foreign Ministry as saying the country is ready to 
meet any such request.

   "Yes, we will ask for assistance for the strengthening of our security 
forces," Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said in a briefing ahead of the trip. He 
did not comment on the Indian reports.

   Karzai's visit could irk Pakistan, especially if any arms deal materializes. 
Pakistan considers Afghanistan its own backyard and suspects rival India of 
seeking greater influence there as a strategy to hem in the country from both 
sides. Pakistan and India have fought three wars since they were divided into 
two countries when they gained independence from Britain in 1947.

   Afghanistan and India signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2011 that 
has included Indian military training of Afghan security forces. Faizi 
indicated in Saturday's briefing that Karzai would seek to expand that 
cooperation. "Whatever our Afghan security forces would need for assistance and 
help, India would help us," he said.

   Afghan analyst Wadir Safi, a political science professor at Kabul 
University, says the timing of Karzai's India trip is likely related to recent 
border skirmishes with Pakistan.

   Each side has been accusing the other of firing across the mountainous 
border region for months, including a skirmish earlier this month that killed 
an Afghan border policeman. Both countries have also accused each other of 
providing shelter for insurgents fighting on the other side of the border.

   Afghan accusations that Pakistan is allegedly trying to torpedo efforts to 
start peace talks with the Taliban have also contributed to deteriorating 
relations. Pakistan is considered crucial to nudging Taliban leaders, many of 
which are in hiding in Pakistan, to the table --- a key goal of the United 
States and its allies ahead of the final pullout of foreign combat forces by 
the end of next year.

   Karzai has long been deeply suspicious of the motives of Pakistan's 
government and military, which backed the Taliban regime before it was toppled 
in the 2001 U.S.-led intervention and has since seemed unable or unwilling to 
go after militant leaders taking refuge inside its borders. The killing of 
al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan only strengthened Afghan wariness of 
his neighbor.

   Any increased military cooperation with India would likely only contribute 
to tensions, Safi warned. Afghanistan had been a proxy battleground for 
Pakistan and India during the war between the Pakistani-backed Taliban regime 
and the India-supported Northern Alliance.

   Another Afghan analyst, Hamidullah Farooqi, said he thinks the reports of 
India supplying weapons are simply brinkmanship and, at most, India might agree 
to help Afghanistan upgrade old Soviet-era weaponry.

   "An arms deal with India would not be helpful for regional stability or for 
the balance that Afghanistan needs between India and Pakistan," Farooqi said. 
"This is just a political game. I don't think there will be an arms deal."

   Aside from regional strategic rivalries, Karzai is expected to discuss 
economic issues and will visit an engineering university where he will receive 
an honorary degree, Faizi said.

   India has invested more than $2 billion in Afghan infrastructure, including 
highways and hospitals and rural electricity projects. New Delhi is hoping to 
gain some influence in the country after 2014, when Afghan forces become 
responsible for the entire country's security.

   Karzai, who earned his college degree in India, has visited New Delhi more 
than a half dozen times in the past few years, most recently in November 2012.


(KA)