AFGHAN PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai began a two-day visit to India yesterday to reinforce bilateral ties and confirm a strategic partnership that will deepen security and economic ties between two countries deeply suspicious of Pakistan.
Afghanistan, in its first strategic agreement, is seeking to forge alliances that will help guarantee security ahead of the withdrawal of US and Nato troops in 2014, following almost 13 years of fighting against the Taliban.
At a joint press conference in New Delhi, Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh said the partnership agreement would cover security co-operation, trade and economic ties, as well as social and cultural exchanges. Mr Singh and Mr Karzai also signed pacts augmenting mining and energy links.
The Afghan president’s second trip to India this year comes a day after he accused Pakistan of duplicity and playing a “double game” in its fight against Islamist militants. Many senior Afghan officials accuse Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate of masterminding last month’s assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani, Kabul’s chief peace negotiator with the Taliban.
Mr Karzai has publicly declared that there is a Pakistani link to Mr Rabbani’s killing. Investigators appointed by him believe the suicide bomber was Pakistani and the killing was plotted in the northwestern Pakistani city of Quetta.
The strategic agreement with Delhi seeks to reinforce India’s commitment to assist and train the Afghan military and police. Diplomatic and security sources said the pact would be piloted by a partnership council headed by the two foreign ministers and that there would be regular dialogue at national security adviser level.
However, the nature of assistance to the army and other security forces would be determined by Kabul.
For decades Pakistan has considered Afghanistan to be within its wider area of influence and part of its strategic depth against arch-rival India. Pakistan is convinced that any security or defence agreement between New Delhi and Kabul would be to its detriment as they could simultaneously “squeeze” it from eastern and western fronts.
India too is wary of Pakistan and accuses its intelligence agencies of planning attacks against its embassy in Kabul.