We need more India in Afghanistan

POST: The price of greater Indian involvement in Afghanistan, By Sanjeev Miglani, Afghan Journal, Jan 19, 2010

Interesting and informative post from a seemingly very solid blog.

First, the good news:

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is heading to India, and one of the things Washington is looking at is how can regional players such as India do more in Afghanistan. "As we are doing more, of course we are looking at others to do more," a U.S. official said, ahead of the trip referring to the troop surge.

The bad news, and the theme of post, is that any further expansion of India's role will perturb the Pakistanis greatly.

Already, many Pakistanis, according to the post, view Afghanistan as "the new battleground on par with Kashmir, with many in Pakistan saying Indian involvement in Afghanistan was more than altruistic and aimed at destabilising Pakistan from the rear."

What do the Afghanis want? More training of their military by the Indians, especially in counterinsurgency.

The author's fear:

But isn't this going to antagonise Pakistan further? Running courses for a few officers is one thing, but training a whole combat unit is another. A deepening military relationship between Afghanistan and India would be an uncomfortable prospect for any security planner in Pakistan. Imagine, for a moment, the Pakistani army training strike formations of the Bangladesh army.

Personally, I think this expansion is worth the risk. This is exactly the route by which regional powers are brought in--and "bought in" WRT the security situation, just like the Chinese doing border police training on their shared border with Afghanistan.

(Thanks: Our man in Kabul)