posted July 08, 2008 05:23 AM              

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KABUL/NEW DELHI: A car packed with explosives was blown up by a suspected Taliban suicide bomber at the gates of the Indian embassy in Kabul on Monday morning, killing a senior diplomat, the mission's defence attache and two ITBP sentries along with at least 40 others — mostly Afghan nationals who had lined up for visas.

More than 140 others were injured in the worst-ever terror attack on India outside Indian soil and the deadliest one in Kabul since the Taliban were driven away by US-led forces

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posted July 08, 2008 05:33 AM              

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Pak, Taliban want India out of Afghanistan

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NEW DELHI: Why is India a persistent target for the Taliban in Afghanistan?

India is one of the largest donors of reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, and has regained a substantive part of the strategic foothold it lost in the country when Pakistan-backed Taliban took over.

It is also one of the strongest supporters of the Karzai government, which has no takers in Afghanistan’s other neighbour - Pakistan. In fact, India’s influence is now spread across the spectrum in Afghanistan, which is not music to Pakistani ears.

India's presence in Afghanistan is mainly to strengthen and stabilise the country with its varied development and reconstruction projects.

This directly comes up against Pakistan's own interests in Afghanistan, which is to keep it on the boil so that Islamabad can use its Taliban surrogate to re-install its presence there. Pakistan, therefore, has strong motive to target Indian interests in Afghanistan.

In fact, there is almost unanimity in the conclusion that it was ISI's Taliban groups who were behind Monday's attack, despite nobody claiming responsibility for the blast.

The Afghanistan interior minister was clear in saying the attack was carried out "in coordination and consultation with an active intelligence service in the region".

No prizes for guessing there. India's $750 million presence in Afghanistan is the surest obstacle for Pakistan to regain what it calls its "strategic depth" against India. The Taliban - which has regained in strength and lethality in the past couple of years, largely under the direct control of Pakistan .- has, therefore, increased its attacks on Indian interests in Afghanistan with growing frequency.

Ahmed Rashid writes in his latest book, "India's success in Afghanistan stirred up a hornet's nest in Islamabad which came to believe that India was 'taking over Afghanistan'."

As the Taliban come under pressure from NATO and the US, it's becoming clear that its easiest targets in the region will be India.

Analysts, however, say India will be Pakistan-backed Taliban's favourite target because this is another face of Pakistan's tried and tested proxy politics by terrorism that it practises against India.

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posted July 08, 2008 05:33 AM              

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It's therefore no coincidence that the Indian defence attache, Brig R D Mehta, was targeted in Monday's attack. The implication is clear: Pakistan and Taliban want India out of Afghanistan.

Security analyst Ajai Sahni of the Institute of Conflict Management said, "The ISI-backed Taliban will not allow any Indian consolidation in Afghanistan, nor will they allow any stability in Kabul." A stable Afghanistan fuels thoughts of a Pashtunistan in Pakistan which is Islamabad's recurring nightmare. Just last month, Karzai stoked those fires, saying Afghanistan wanted to "rescue" the Pashtuns in Pakistan.

Pakistan continues to believe India is behind this.

Meanwhile, terrorism analyst B Raman told TOI: "The vehicle-borne suicide bombing that we saw today has been used to devastating effect by the al-Qaida in Iraq."

The Al-Qaida remnants, who have returned to Afghanistan, have transmitted the technique to the Afghan Taliban. It is far more effective as a bombing device than an explosives-strapped person." This, he said, shows clearly the growing involvement of Al-Qaida against India.

But India needs to stay in Afghanistan, because Afghanistan's stability is in India's national interest. For if Pakistan is allowed to have full sway of Afghanistan, India's security will be severely threatened - Taliban and Pakistan's other pet terror groups might find it hard to travel to the US, but India is the easiest target in the region and remains Pakistan's pet hate.

Therefore, analysts said India urgently needs to take two steps. These are: intensifying its own security in Afghanistan - all Indian projects and interests need to be protected much better; and, improving security cooperation with the US.

For instance, the Indian embassy in Kabul was armed itself with hesco barriers only last week, after a heightened threat perception. It should have been done years ago, because India's vulnerability is not new. Indian personnel on the frontlines need much better protection. Raman said, "A vulnerability assessment of all Indian missions and offices is urgently called for."

India cannot walk away from Afghanistan because India's and the region's security depends on it. But India can do a much better job of protecting itself in Afghanistan.

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