Regional splash: Amidst discord with Pakistan, an accord with India
(Read: Karzai travels to India amid regional tension)
It is the first strategic pact Afghanistan has signed with any country, and comes at a time relations between Kabul and another key regional stakeholder, Islamabad, have deteriorated alarmingly.
The agreement, released in full late Tuesday, included commitments by India to assist with the training and equipping of Afghan security forces, offer more scholarships for Afghan students and facilitate bilateral trade. Both countries said they would work together more closely in international forums such as the United Nations, and work for “everlasting peace and friendship between the two governments.”
Apart from security cooperation, the two leaders agreed that Afghanistan’s economic integration with the Indian economy and South Asia as a whole was in the national interest of Afghanistan – and one of the ways to achieve this is to promote closer trade, investment and transit links. Aside from the strategic partnership agreement, memoranda of understandings were inked on hydrocarbons and exploration of minerals – one of Afghanistan’s most coveted and attractive assets.
Karzai, speaking at a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, stressed that “terrorism and radicalism” were being used “as an instrument of policy against our citizens”, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Pakistan – which has borne the brunt of a number of frustrated outbursts by the Afghan president in the last few days following an intensification of militant attacks in the country’s settled areas and the assassination of the country’s top peacemaker.
(Read: Fracturing friendship - Pakistan rejects Afghan allegations)
Singh said that India stands by Afghanistan in its journey of peace and that the Afghans deserve to live in peace without outside interference. “My discussions with President Karzai have once again underscored the importance of a strong and broad-based partnership between India and Afghanistan,” Singh said. He explained that the strategic partnership agreement would cover security cooperation, trade and economic ties, as well as social and cultural exchanges.
India is one of Afghanistan’s biggest bilateral donors, having pledged about $2 billion since the 2001 US led-invasion, for projects from the construction of highways to the building of the Afghan Parliament.
Although India will tread carefully not to irk Pakistan, Indian policymakers have their eyes fixed on broadening New Delhi’s role in the post-US withdrawal Afghanistan.
Analysts in India had predicted that Karzai would elevate New Delhi’s role in stabilising his violence-torn country as he eyes a drawdown of US-led troops by 2014.
(Read: ‘AfPak’ post-US withdrawal)
Krishna said that there would be one strategic agreement between the countries that “takes care of security” and two others to help the development of Afghanistan in mining and energy.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2011.
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The daily mayhem in Pakistan is having highly salutory effect in India.
It makes Indians understand how precious their democracy and unity is...despite the slow speed and corruption in India.
Every Indian recognizes that Pakistan has dug itself into deep hole...and India with all its fault must learn from it and never let that happen to India.
in my opinion afghanistan has takin the most appropriate step of its all time.this shoud ve been done by leaders of afghanistan 40 or 50 years ago.we wouldnt ve gone through such distrucion.but we have a syaing in afganistan "der ayad khosh ayad"we have finally realised who is our real friend.nd whoever is jealous with afghan indian friendship thety should know we have nothing to do with them.we can make friendship with any1 we prefer.no1 has da right to interfere in our interior or foreign policies.long live india afghan friendship.jay hind and zindabad afghanistan
go on lets boot the millions of afghani refugees out of pakistan.
@Sher Khan: because he goes with India and it makes him mercenary if he made the pact with pakistan then what would he be? i know he would have been stabbed in the back like previous leaders of Afghanistan.
@Mahesh Patil: I am a pathan too and my ancestors are from afghanistan, and i can tell you a big majority of muslims/afghans don't wants to have any relationship with indians/hindues because of our cultural and religious differences, which makes sense and is our right!!! so don't be in any misconceptions...
@khurram: hahahah well said brother.. well said
There are 7 or more separatist movements going on in India, they dicriminate their on people on the basis of colour, race and religon, look at what they have been doing in Kashmir. Look at the conditions of muslims in India etc... I don't see a muslim country like Afghanistan could truly benifit from a country like India. Social and cultural exchanges with a hindue country??? is that what majorty of muslims/afghans want?? i really doubt it. All afghans will get is bollywood/hindue/sikh culture from India which i am sure no true muslim wants. Indians are so impressed by muslim counties that they are always willing to have social and cultural ties with them. Coming back to the point, Afghanistan might get some financial help from India but will loose alot. Just to clarify myself i dont have anything against India but I believe they are very different in their religious practices and cultural practices therefore it is very natural that they can never be a genuine ally to any muslim country(two nation theory zindabaaad). God help Afghanistan
As an Indian and a well wisher for all people of the subcontinent, I hope this agreement brings peace and prosperity to the people of Afghanistan.
Pak brothers and sisters against this agreement must realize the world has moved on. Demand more from your leaders than the same old tired anti-India rhetoric. Try to figure out how you can prosper from this instead of blowing stuff up.
@Amir Wayn: If "Indian banias" were so against Muslims can you explain the success of Wipro which is run by a Mussalman: Azim Premji? At one point in time (I think 2002) the richest people in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were all Muslims. I cannot tell you how proud I am of this fact.
@Zaid Hamid: "@Pundit :Once day green flag of Pakistan will be seen from the moon, which is also ours by the way." Of course, just like Waziristan, eh?
@balraj: Talk sense Pakistan is a sovereign country for the last 64yrs. And what would you with another 180 million when you can not look after the 1.2 billion that we have.
Very true that we cannot accept the creation of pakistan. Reasons.1. Pakistani's forefathers were indians. 2. there was hardly any need to form a new country.3.Every Muslim in pak had an indian forefather like Mr. Jinnah's grandfather was a hindu Rajput.4.The place where r pakistan and afganistan exists were historically Indian lands(indus water civilization)HUM HOTE NA HUM.. TUM HOTE NA TUM ...HUM HOTE HUM(POWER).
@Amir Wayn: And the refugees are enjoying suicide bombings and 20 hour loadshedding...
@MJK: First thing we must keep in mind Karzai DOES NOT belong to that class of Afghan poeple who are loyals and understand the importance of Pakistan. You have to beleive this majority of Afghans have optimistice approach about Pakistan and will never turn to India.
The class Karzai belongs to is that who are scular and Russian inspired and they never welcome Sharia in the country.
Those who we hugged as Refugees in 1980s are integrated to our scociety now and proudly Pakistanis.
delusional pakistan! its going to stew in its own fire! why did it destroy afghanistan on directives of yankees with saudi petro dollars? why did it get this inspirational taliban (wahabis) take over an ancient nation (pakistan is just 63 odd years old and still struggling!) now it laments against both its benefactors the US, and the afghans, who actually who paid with their blood the bloodthirsty monsters which were bankrolled by ISI for four decades to destroy afghanistan, now it has the nerve to challenge the entire world just because it terrorises and blackmails in the name of islam!
its the worst country to set an example of islam. its flawed character of blood letting, intrigues, double talk, back stabbing and paranoia is anything but islamic, which is a religion of peace.by the way who said pakistan represents muslims of the subcontinent? are the bangla deshis, the indian muslims or afghans less islamic than the hypocritic pakistanis? i guess they should be taught a lesson in their own language. a sound beating from both ends : afghanistan and india with USA pounding them to nothingness!
@Freeman: Pakistan also said that Osama was NOT in Pakistan.
@Post from New York: Pakistan have so many times said that Haqqani network is not in Pakistan they are in Afghanistan. These two people one captured in Paktia which is Afghanistan provice and also second is killed in Khost which is also Afghanistan's province. This has proved that whole Haqqani network is in Afghanistan as Pakistan claimed and not in Pakistan.
Also recently American official have been in contact one of the Haqqani Brothers in Afghanistan. Mullen knew that American people have been in contact with Haqqani network but he never mentioned in his speech. This is called American double standards.
@A J Khan: I don't think India will have its boots in Afghanistan unless Talebans and their mentors pose a direct threat to India. If they dare, I can assure you that Taleban will suffer their worst ever defeat at the hands of Indian army since our army is better trained than US or any other army of the world in counter-insurgency operations. You have stated that Pukhtoons will garland us and you may be right here since majority of Afghans like India and they would welcome us unlike Russian or Americans. History is also with us as you may or may not be aware that Pushtoons had only been defeated in all the three wars with Sikhs during Maharaja Ranjit Singh rule and majority of Indian army comprises of Sikhs and other martial races ie Rajputs, Marathas etc. Having said that, India would refrain from direct involvement in Afghanistan.
@Char Latan: I wish you well brother but reunification NO
Every country has right to choose its friends and trading partners. No one can stop any country to cooperative with other one. Pakistan should support poor Afghan people and government to come out of present social and economic mess.
The politics in south asia should also change with the changing geo political realities of world.
All three countries Afghanistan Pakistan and India should improve their trade relations, terrorism will gradually come down when people have jobs and businesses. Period.
Some Afghan friends think Pakistan is interfering in Afghanistan, I would ask what Ghaznavi was doing few centuries back.
We understand n accept Afghanistan as free country only if they have some policy of their own. Problem is communist led north-ran alliance is always anti Pakistan n we kept millions of refugees, provided sons to fight their war in 80's. Even now with close broader region will be ciaos.
Who will expect them stand n blame back everything to Pakistan. Watch your ranks and then see what Afghans need to do best for their country and the country who is dragged into this mess by few crack head afghan leaders who fell for communist USSR.
Whoa.. i am totally thrilled by debate going on here.
@Diggvijay Singh You knowledge of religious history is mind boggling. Do you have a blog?
As you can see and as you can read statementof prime minister of India, that relation between AF-Ind are an open book, that should be set in first. India is already having same kind of agreements with many other neighbours of Pakistan as for eg. Tajikistan. Well its a very important period of time for all three countries AF-Pak-Ind, India is on its road to become a world power, Pakistan is trying its best to become democratic and secular in long run and Afghanistan is trying to stabilize itself and establish a basic governance over there. If any one of these three brother countries will not allign each other with each other's goals than, our whole region will suffer. India and Af have moved a step towards it. Pak should help.
As of training not only military but other educational intitutes in India are considered amongst best in the world. What wrong if Af wants an access to it.
Oh Afghanistan is sovereign how? US occupation has made it sovereign or Taliban or Indian or Rusian. Why dont Afghan think that the country is of Afghans and Pashtoons are the master of the country not the Uzbek, Hazara or Tajiks. Hamid Karzai is only a puppet of US and Indians against Pashtoons and Pakistan. We are Muslims we are united Pakistan, Iran and all Muslims are one and inshallah destroy enemy of Muslims like Indian/US/Israel. InshAllah. May Allah Be With All The Muslims. Ameen.
India . . . . you are not welcome anywhere but your own country and Afghan population thinks you are inept!! We have nothing in common and due to your hatred for muslims you are not welcome in Afghanistan. Do us all a favour, stay in your own yard, muslims dont need your interference!!
@ R S Johar. I agree with you, India may be asked to take control of security of Afghanistan by Karzai when ISAF and NATO vacate in 2014.People are waiting to welcome Indian Army in Afghanistan specially Pashtuns to garland them". Please send your troops under the strategic agreement to ensure Hamid Karzai and Northern Alliance government does not fall. Remember , India had sent troops to Sri Lanka also to control Tamil insurgents and then Sri Lankans had to kick them off because they started supporting the insurgents.
@Diggvijay Singh: didnt u people considered Mahmud Ghaznavi and Mohammed Ghori invaders .. now ur talking all sweet. hypocrisy at its best .....
@R S Johar As mentioned by you, India may be asked to take control of security of Afghanistan by Karzai when ISAF and NATO vacate in 2014.People are waiting to welcome Indian Army in Afghanistan specially Pashtuns to garland them". Please send your troops under the strategic agreement to ensure Hamid Karzai and Northern Alliance government does not fall. Do you remember. Such good will was extended by India to Sri Lanka also.
@Aamir: Taliban and Pakistan are the two different faces of the same Evil
Unlike Pakistanis, the Indian government remembers the lessons from history.One Chankia maharaj, a tutor of Ashoka(perhaps), advised him the principals of foreign policy: Make good relations with neighbors of neighbors Ignore imediate neighbors Very nicely implemented by Indian government.Ignore China and have friendship with Russia.Ignore Pakistan,have friendship with Afghanistan etc.Ignore Bangladesh and have friendship with Yanmaar.
@Zaid Hamid: And what can u do with mules? claim Karachi?
Afghanistan is an independent country, it has all the rights to deal with others the way it wants. Why is Pakistan worried about it? The time has gone when Pakistan was thinking of it as 5th province of it. By the way where does Pakistan stand at the moment, a failed state....
@khurram: Much the same way as a small virus can fell an elephant. You're right. But while fighting a virus, size does not matter.
Yes they have all the rights to do accord with anyone. We also have our rights to seal or open borders with our neighbors especially who have been enjoying this facility for importing all their supplies for their survival. Now, Pakistan must seal afghan border (by raising a wall or mining it) without any delay and stop them sucking our blood and resources thru so called afghan transit trade. We must send afghan refugees back to their homes and offload this extra baggage. Let them air lift all supplies from India and Pakistan must ensure they should not use our airspace. Soon they will come to their senses.
Pakistans time has come. We afghans are so tired of Pak.
these agreements are made to tackle what comes aftermath 2014 withdrawal. India took a legal and internationally acceptable step by signing mou with afghanistan. it could have taken an internationally condemnable and inhuman step of terror also( raw is still alive). afghanistan is a sovereign country and strengthening its govt is a step to boost the internal locus of control in afghanistan. moreover this mou is just formalization of what India has been doing since 2001.
peoples comment here are disturbing, they are justifying state use of terror to meddle with foreign nations.( they condemn us and India of doing so)
MOREOVER INDIA IS NOT SENDING ANY BOOT ON AFGHAN SOIL. ITS NOT A SOIL ITS QUICKSAND.
Very Dumb move. . . . . He is only following orders!
Well it seems that Karzai wants to achieve some personal mileage with this and also pressurize their immediate neighbor, PK. Lets him do it, he cannot run his land locked country's economy without PK and he knows about that. This is just a photo shoot for both Manmohan Singh and Karzai and will not have any long term implications. Taliban can only be brought to table with PK's help and the mayor of Kabul knows about that and will definitely visit PK int he next one quarter to show that he is our good neighbor.
@Indian Trolls If you are so happy about the partition then why are you here commenting on Pak and still obsessed with it?? Instead of Pak you should worry about China sitting on your doorstep, do you think they will let you grab the spoils of war in Afghanistan? Dream on they are already there. Also I dont think your government understands that since Hamid karzai was not of any use for US, it wont be any better than India, infact worse. Afghanistan is like a blackhole - friend or enemy - once you get sucked in, there is noway you can get out in good shape. Pak and US are case in point.
Pakistan has decided that in view of Afghanistan's perfidy it will switch the strategic backyard. Henceforth China will play that role.
no need to get concerned 95% of what they consume is goes from pakistan and 80% of our trouble price hike is due to them as flour, sugar, etc gets smuggled there.just put an stop to it and karzai would know his place.
Mard-e-momin don't need Afganistan. Give us 5 horses and we will capture Kabul. Give us 15 horses and we will capture lal-kila.
Many bloggers have missed the whole plot here. The idea is to terrorize indians in afganistan by terrorist attacks by haqqanis which will pave way for independent pashtunistan, truncated afganistan, and Greater balochistan. Balkanization of Afpak is in progress, Step 2 has started.
Very Good Move Karzai Keep it Up Afghans are behind you.
1.india's policy is simple ..walk silently with a big stick !! as far as china is concerned, its not a foolish nation like pakistan that it will disrupt $60 bln trade with india for stupid border issues .... ultimately pakistan will be forced to change its national policy becoz every nation, including china will demand it to do so !!
India needs to beef up their presence in Afghanistan by sending in their troops to bail out US; we need to protect our puppet Karzai from Afghan freedom fighters. We are on track to become a the hegemonic power in the region, I am proud that finally we are going totally opposite to what Gandhi wanted; our goal is Akhand Bharat which includes Afghanistan and Burma; Jay bajrang bali..
There wont be any Indian boots on the ground..everyone knows that... why are the Paki's so tense,,, its just an agreement on paper... Maybe couple of 1000 Afghans might be trained at Indian Defense institutes that all....
Thank you Pakistan for saving afghans from soviets. They showed how good they are with those who stood and sacrificed for them in difficult times. Can Afghan Imagine victory over Taliban without Pakistan?? Our Army and Nation was fooled by Afghans for decades.
@all pakistanis ,and Indians with love from an afghan ,Afghanistan has more than 3 trillion dollar wealth in it's mountains and that's only raw figure ,it has much more than that,this wealth needs exploration,refining and exportation,America and NATO is here for this purpose but failed to get it's hands on the afghan wealth because present Afghans govt did not sign any deal with these western countries for exploration cause we know well we will later suffer as the Arabs are suffering now so president karzai and the afghan people decided that this wealth and these contract deals be given to chinees,indians and exported through Pakistan ,by such deals the whole region will be stabilized ,cause Afghanistan is the heart of Asia and stability and progress of Afghanistan is the progress of whole Asia and this is said by Pakistan poet Allama iqbal,so let us all join hand ,India ,Pakistan Afghanistan and have a prosperous future for our kids ,and one harsh word nobody should think abt afghan security ,we have defeated the britsin 19century,Russians that's recent and now America is dying to go out ,we are unconquerable by force but love and peace we want ,and regional stability we want ,we love our country and region so let's join hands for the region and a message to those who think that taliban or warlords will come back that's delusional cause we the people of Pakistan will not let that happans,long live Afghanistan Pakistan and India
Karzai, mayor of Kabul, signing a pact with India. So the CIA asked Karzai to visit India and sign a pact which only applies to Kabul. It makes no sense to me and also find it hard to understand what benefit is the mayor of Kabul bringing to India other than a few photos in the state controlled media. I am sure he will be on the first flight to USA ahead of the other foreign forces. Finally, there is no place for India in Afghanistan, it is Pakistan who calls the shots after the foreigners leave. Even the Americans know this fact, who have exhausted all their resources to cut off Pakistan from Afghanistan and have come to realize that it is not possible. Where does India stand in this scenario, which does not even share any physical border with Afghanistan other than the imaginary borders emanating from bollywood/media.
Pakistan should wake up!! Forget all the trade and sweet talk and do not be a trade route for either Afghanistan or India. Afghanistan is the terror backyard to Pakistan. Do not forget that just as India could not tolerate East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) at its backyard, similarly Pakistan should absolutely feel threatened by India and Afghanistan who are in cahoots against Pakistan. Pakistan should not become complacent and must seal their borders with Afghanistan so there is no traffic in and out of Pak-Afghan border and if Afghan trade suffers as a result then so be it, as they cannot have their cake and eat it too. . . .they are openly buddying up to the enemy of Pakistan. Historically India has done surprise attacks on Pakistan through Afghanistan. So, Pakistan do not let another Indian-Afghan surprise make your day . . . . stay alert and effective!!!
time for Afghan boots in Pakistan! The Afghans never lost a war in their history and the Pakistanis never won one!!
India. Welcome to Afghanistan, Talibans are waiting to pack you in gunny bags.
I am amazed to see the massive reaction on TET's columns re the India-Afghan accord...... while the flood victims in pakistan do not even get lip service.
I can well imagine the day in the life of a Pakisatni.......
Hahahah...exactly what one can expect from a two faced Karzai. Soon he would be begging Pakistan to let him stay as his days will be over sooner than anyone expects.
Paki cheeks are red.....
First Mike Mullen delivered a resounding slap...
Then Karzai did the same......
Who next?
Very adventurous by the sector in-charge of Kabul which will surely back fire when USA pulls out. It is only a BARRAK ( loud sound ) by a fragile person. India should not have fallen in this trap.
The agreement might have some serious reprecussions on Afghanistan since Taleban, Haqqanis and their mentors would now work overtime to create chaotic situation in this country through frequent attacks, bomb blasts and killing of innocent people to force Karzai to submit to Pakistan's well known action plan. In such a scenario, Karzai might request India to send its army to take care of Afghanistan's security, which is one of the clauses of this agreement.
we should kick out all those unloyal refugees that are flooding the country and replace them with loyal and progressive stranded pakistanis in bangladesh
@Lee P:
" – much before the time that you converted to Islam. "
Why would I do such a thing. My family has been Hindu since the dawn of civilization.
@Char Latan:
"...............Every time an Indian reads or sees a news story about Pakistan, he or she must yearn for reunification."
Do you think we Indians are a suicide mission ? reunification with Pakistan ! what a crazy idea No way, I think our founding forefathers both Quaid and Gandhi did a favour by partition
Jokes apart, believe me Indians are very well comfortable with idea of Pakistan, no one wants to undo the partition (except very few loonys from our dear saffron brigade) we respect your sovereignity , why the hell do you think we have embassys in each others country ?
Having said this, please shun the thought that we are out to grab you and your pure land , please be calm and composed, and as a advice totally change the syllabus in your schools about Pakistan studies, purge all the books with toxic lessons on 2 nation theory, hindu bania and brahmins , please have some self confidence in yourself about your status in world.
We both as a nation are independent since long 63 years - do not spin any more conspiracy theories, India and Indians certainly wish for stability in Pakistan - only request keep your strategic assets in your own control
Khuda Hafiz
Kallu Mama (India)
Today I am happy that Afghans will be happy in the coming days and wish them best of luck for this valued partnership. Though a Pakistani, I think Pakistan missed the opportunity of behaving like a sane country and instead sort "strategic depth" in Afghanistan through "strategic assets" which did not bring any good to afghans and not any good to Pakistan.Best of luck to both Indians and Afghanistan. .
Dear Pakistanis... Do not be hypocritical. When you had a standoff with US, your PM went and met the Chinese. This was signalling that you are not alone in your stand. When the same is being done by the Afghan President, you guys go ballistic. c'mon now...
@Jehangir:
"Pakistan wont allow any other country to operate in its backyard afghanistan."
There are couple of very serious problems with your confrontational and arrogant statement.
First, why is it Pakistan's business to "allow" whom Afghanistan chooses as their friends and partners? Second, did Pakistan itself follow this advice when they colluded with china to destabilize India through their nuke bomb project directly aimed at India?
Karzai signing some accord with some country is itself a joke :)
What's Karzai's credibility!! Does he hold any power, authority and grip to implement all these accords!!?? India will train 'Afghan' armed forces!!, what armed forces!!??
Karzai can't even protect his presidential palace forget about the whole Afghanistan.
Pakistan should immediately block all Afghan transit trade except few humanitarian stuff like medicine and food.
This is an alliance without teeth. More bark, no bite. If India wants to deal with Mayor of Kabul and proclaim it is Afghanistan it is deluding itself and not anyone else.
i love paki handsome guys ;)
Karzai studied at Simla. When he became president, his first foreign visit was to India. India sent 90 buses to Afghanistan via Pakistan. This agreement will benefit Pakistan also because the trade will be through Pakistan only. All three countries will be better off if one thinks outside the box.
@Post from New York: This alliance wouldn't work for long I tell you. Once Talibans back to power, whats the worth of this agreement!
Afghanistan is the mess, whoever support them they left that country crying. Doing any businesses with Afghanis is always danger. India will learn this soon. Let them enjoy this moments. Soon you will see influx of Afghanis in India and then all the drugs, warload money will be invested in Tata or Baba or nana rickshaw business. Afghanis are no one friend and they never be. In the end they have to walk or drive through Pakistan for their buddy India. But India will soon runways when they start asking bread, butter and mukhan. Once all the aid pull out I am not seeing any return of dime except if Indians start doing business with drugs warload!
Let us not blame Afghanistan to take care of its own interests. Between Pakistan and India the choice is clear for current Afghan govt. One giant country is bringing trade, financial aid and progress to Afghanistan and the other terrorist Taliban and supporter of OBL. Let us stop, rewind and rethink what went wrong? Let us join the friendship agreement instead of being jealous and opposing it.
@ Jahangir. Pakistan needs to be able to operate freely in Baluchistan, FATA first. Pallay nahin danay, Amma'n chali bhunanay.
Jehangir : Pl take care of what is happening in your drawing room, dining room, bed rooms, study room etc first. Backyard comes next. You neednt worry about one thing, ie Front yard.
@Bipul Rajput: Mr.Rajput, Islam is one of the newest religions among the major ones. India and Afghanistan go way back - much before the time that you converted to Islam. Indian folklore is full of references to Afghanistan thousands of years before Islam came into being. Don't give everything a religious angle and Islam is the new kid on the block.
Good for Afghanistan, Pakistan should now embark on a mission to deport all Afghani's to there peacful homeland.
Afghanis are never with Pakistan and they never will be, they have a history of war and they will keep fighting, as soon as a war finishes they have there tribes to fight, as it happened after the soviet era.
So, Pakistan doesn't need Afghanistan neither does Pakistan need any Afghani !!
It has been proven by wikileaks just how corrupt Karzai is. The fact of the matter is Karzai is only in power because the US wills it and only until they leave. After that Afganistan belongs to taliban.
@Jehangir: "We have opposed the russians, the american and will do the same with the Indians. ISI is fully geared to do so."
Well answer a few questions please: - TTP kills thousands of Pakistanis. What has ISI do about that? - LeJ has killed hundreds of Hazaras. What has ISI been able to do about that? - There is hate literature against Ahmadis who are declared Wajib-ul-qatl and killed. What ha s ISI done about that? - Regularly tortured bodies of Baloch nationalists are found in streets, what has ISI been able to do about that?
By the way according to delusional people like Zaid Hamid, TTP and LeJ ae sponsored by India - right? All the more reason ISI should have been able to prevent their actions but it is unable.
First let ISI take care of what is going on within your own borders before worrying about others.-
@Char Latan: "Completely agree with you Khurram. In their hearts, the Indians seem to have never accepted the idea of Pakistan. Every time an Indian reads or sees a news story about Pakistan, he or she must yearn for reunification."
Yearn for reunification? With Pakistan? If India had wanted that then in 1971, it would have tried to usurp East Pakistan (which had over 50% of Pakistani population at that time) within its borders. That would not have been ethical and I am glad and proud India did not even consider that.
Anyway today - I do not know a single Indian who would want to reunite with Pakistan. India chooses to be a democracy. Pakistan is not sure whether it wants to be a democracy or ruled by military dictator or be a Caliphate. India chooses to be secular and Pakistan chooses to be Islamic. It is not just the Hindus, Chistians and Sikhs who prefer that but even Indian Muslims. In India, Shias and Ahmadis are not considered Wajib-ul-qatl and killed in broad daylight, nor are the Urdu speaking Muslims as happened recently in Karachi.Finally the public consensus on women's role in society, role of arms with civilians etc. is very different in India than Pakistan. So given the completely different choices both countries made since 1947 and the resultant outcomes - there is little common between India and Pakistan today that Indians would want to merge with Pakistan. Last but not the least, a majority of perfectly decent Pakistanis get questioning looks when they travel abroad with their green passport due to the antics of the Pakistani madrasah created terrorists. IF India and Pakistan merged, Indians - particular Indian Muslims would suffer the same fate. Why would we choose that?
What is a true statement is that Indians (including Indian Muslims ) do not believe in the Two NAtion Theory which said that Hindus and Muslims cannot live together because we can and we have and we will.
While India is providing development experts, investment and flowers, we are sending Taliban, Haqqanis, LET and explosives. But...we know best for we are the most superior!
The best thing to happen to India was Partition. Period. End of discusion.
Haha...Karzai the mayor of Kabul signing the deal with Indians. Its just symbolic...
This is nothing new. Pakistan has long suffered from the criminal acts of these Afghan lackeys working for their Indian masters. So there is some formal accord- it only the same thing as the informal understanding that these Afghanis have had with their Indian masters for decades. Now is the time to deport the Afghani refugees completely and seal the border with Afghanistan.
@khurram: Don't say that. You are hurting my feeling. I Love Pakistanis. Except for the ones who are terrorists
Hmm khurram, don't worry about these comments, tell us what pakistan has done for Afghan people except spread terror. Who gives them the right to decide for Afghans. U.S or other countries don't want to kill innocent people on purpose as Pakistani's and isi do otherwise destroying pakistan is very easy for them.
Indian is looking for love in Hindu Kush.
Completely agree with you Khurram. In their hearts, the Indians seem to have never accepted the idea of Pakistan. Every time an Indian reads or sees a news story about Pakistan, he or she must yearn for reunification.
there should be include in the agreement that india will took 3 millions afgan who are living there
@khurram, there was no creation or partition, Pakistan was always there, you are just illiterate who dont know anything about history, bharat was created a day after pakistan
Pakistan is born out of the violence and mass communal murders committed on 'direct action day ' in the August of 1946. Please go and read history about who planned and executed those .
@Pakistani: Please stop being delusional. The world does not care about Pakistan. Nobody is out to get you simply because there is nothing to be gained from doing so. On the contrary your army & mullahs policies are making life miserable for the rest of the world
@hamza khan
India has always been there, the word "Bharat" is one of the oldest country names in the world, and as far as India's relations with Afghanistan is concerned, they started in 3rd century BC, when what today is Afghanistan, was freed from Greek-Macedonian rule by the Indians under Mauryans. All of Afghanistan was under the Mauryan India, with its capital at Pataliputra i.e modern day Patna:))
@Diggvijay Singh: Your knowledge in religious history is mind blowing. Please share your references.And I do request a debate.
@G. Din: india is so big and second most populus country in the world. but instead of sitting in the league of super powers, india is still competing with pakistan. what a shame. it is a success of pakistan that that it is still manage to locking horns with india. india only fought one war with its equilent china and defeated badly. remember history? indians only strong in media because they are good in telling lies. i dont need to remind u the history. u should remember the coffin scandal after kargill war.how much money ur defence minister made from coffins is enough to judge how many indian soldiers died.
@khurram: You are mistaken there! We absolutely love the Afghans from the bottom of our hearts. They are our jaans! But that does not mean that we hate Pakistan. It is just that we are helpless and hopelessly in love with the Afghans. No hard feelings there please!
most of these comments are coming from indians rather than afghan people. most of these comments are not about frinendship between india and afghanistan. i can feel the hatred of indian people againgt pakistan from these comments. most indians are bitter about pakistan cause they never accept the creation of pakistan from heart.
@lobe: yeh it is the right of afghan people to decide what they want to do. but friendship with india is decided by a slave president of colonial and occupied countries rather than afghan people. by the way if india has so much money, why not use it to feed 800 million hungry people of india.
Pakistan is in danger of international isolation.
@Jehangir: "We have opposed the russians, the american and will do the same with the Indians. ISI is fully geared to do so." Except that Indians are neither Russians nor Americans. We are from the neighourhood, remember? We know your innards better than you know them yourselves. We are the ones who cut you down to half your size, to whom you surrendered 100,000 mard-e-momin. You cannot, will not be allowed to bully a valiant people like Afghans! You are a third rate power and will not be allowed to cast a veto on what Afghanistan wants for itself! If you believe you can, then tell us even one instance where you succeeded against India!
Afghanistan - such a beautiful and yet so unfortunate country. Afghan people are some of the most friendliest and hard working people on earth. I wish peace and prosperity to our Afghan brothers and sisters. We, in India, welcome the renewal of our time tested friendship with the great people of Afghanistan. If any country has any problem with it, they need to get over themselves. Afghanistan is an independent and sovereign country and reserves the right to be friends with anyone they choose to.
@Mahesh Patil: "There is a historic relation between Gandhar (Afghanistan) and Hindustan. Queen Gandhari, wife of Dhrutrashtra was from Afghanistan".
Actually present day Gandhar is Swat which is in Pakistan. You are perhaps thinking of Kandhar which is in Afghanistan.
@Jehangir: ISI is fully geared to do what exactly aside from hiding Bin Laden & Zawahiri?
@Mahesh Patil:
You are mostly right my friend except for the fact that the Mahabharata is not a historical document. There was the Kushan empire which stretched from Afghanistan to northern parts of present India. The modern day Hazara Shias who are being murdered by Lashkar e Jhangvi in Pakistan are the descendants of the Kushan tribe. And these Kushan people used to follow at that time what we call in India the Parsi religion. There was Buddhist and some Shaivite influence too.
After this agreement, one should expect a lot of anti-India statements and threats by Taleban and their mentors. However, the security ties is restricted only in equipping and training Afghan army but no Indian troops landing on Afghan soil so far. Pakistan's double game with US, Afghanistan and exporting terrorism to India has left it with few friends and almost isolated this country. If this foreign policy is not reversed, break up of the country is imminent.
Us pakistanis have no problem with afghans doing business in India.. By all means..but all of you USA,India, afghans, and israelis also need to stop the mischief they are creating in Pakistan, u think we are happy with ppl dying everywhere including in Pakistan.. Pakistan is the only country affected most with terrorism.. Thousands of pakistanis sacrificed their lives in the way of defeating terrorism..And u say we r supporting it.. It's your factions working in our country.. Destroying our country.. Let us be at peace and you will be at peace too!!!
I agree with Mohd. Naeem. This touchy-feely stuff fools no one. It is clear that India plans to surround Pakistan compeltely on both sides. Beware of our ISI. Thousands of Pakistanis know not to mess with the ISI and one day so will our neighbors.
“Singh explained that the strategic partnership agreement would cover security cooperation, trade and economic ties, as well as social and cultural exchanges”. If one reads carefully it says trade and economic ties. Security cooperation is one out of five components of the deal. There is no economic activity without security. Mr. Karzai has taken the right step to improve the economy of his country. Isn’t Pakistan wants to improve tie with India for economic reasons? What is wrong if Afghanistan wants to improve it’s economy by trade? End of the day it is the good honest day’s money you made by trade counts everything else will fall in place. It is the economic 101 man.
The "All Weather" friendship between the people of India and Afganistan is "higher than the Himalayas and deeper than the Indian Ocean".
There is a historic relation between Gandhar (Afghanistan) and Hindustan. Queen Gandhari, wife of Dhrutrashtra was from Afghanistan. Pathans are loved over in India. Film Kabuliwala was based on Pathan and was a great hit.If Afghanistan and India want to increase their co operation let them do.I request my Pakistani brothers and sisters to bring your own country in proper order.Improve your trade with other countries.Do not depend upon some other country to to show US you stand high.You should have your own height to look in to other’s eyes and not crutches.
Well somewhere in Pakistan subconsicousnes it thinks as of a imperialist, backyard (Afghanistan), frontyard (Kashmir)..or is it just plain fear (untangible) from India which lets its society to think crazy and act as crazy.
The last time the Afghan people (Muslim people) looked towards Pakistan to support them in form a civil goverment, you gifted them the 'Taliban'.
The TTP is unaccepted by Pakistan Goverment and fights against it, but want the Afghanistan Taliban to be part of the Kabul Goverment. (Purely Paradox).
Dont sell your conutry soul to the terrorist, the cost would be too high to pay.
From an Indian friend.
Wait untill China and Afghanistan sign a deal@Diggvijay Singh:
"There has been a long tradition of civilizational contact between India and Afghanistan since the days of Mahmud Ghaznavi and Mohammed Ghori. "
Diggvijay or whoever you are - India's contacts with Afghanistan go back thousands of years - thousands of years BEFORE Islam. The advent of Islam is not the start of human history.
If Pakistan can have 'all weather friendship" with China, why can't India have "all weather friendship" with Afganistan ?
Atleast India is not selling or smuggling nuclear weapons, missiles to Afganistan !
Also, historically what's common between people of China and Pakistan ? Anything ?
@Mohammad naeem: where this Pak came in to picture when ties with AF. This mentality should change.
@Jehangir:
What you are calling your back yard is a sovereign country. That’s exactly why Afghanis are trying so hard to protect themselves from Pakistan and going elsewhere for help; they don’t want you to violate their sovereignty and treat them like your backyard.
Whenever Afghanistan tried to have good relationship with Pakistan, she was stabbed in the back. Pakistan used the so called Mujahiden and then created sectarian disagreement among them, that led to civil war. Latter when the Taliban took control the only country supported them was Pakistan and they were even recognized by Pakistan. They were duped and Pakistan gave full access to Americans to destroy them. Pakistan has forsaken Islam and has chosen Nationalism as their way of foreign policy. When you forsake Quran and Sunnah them Allah (SWT) will take away his Rahmat.
@Jehangir:
Good luck with it. Pakistan cannot even enforce Law and Order within itself and wants to dictate what another Sovereign Nation is conduct their foreign policy. Just like the failed two nation theory, Islam has nothing to with this partnership, it has everything to do with mutual respect.
@Jehangir: Pakistan wont allow any other country to operate in its backyard afghanistan.
Afghanistan is not your backyard.
@Jehangir: Its the right of afghan people to decide what they want to do. Remember you are suffering today because of misplaced and foolish priorities. Use time and think with a calm mind, don't lie to yourself and don't jump the gun.
Pakistan wont allow any other country to operate in its backyard afghanistan. We have opposed the russians, the american and will do the same with the Indians. ISI is fully geared to do so.
If Afghanistan wants to ally with India -- that's their right - it's none of Pakistan's business. For a country that constantly harps on "sovereignty" they somehow don't understand that other countries have a sovereign right to manage their affairs without Pakistan's interference.
To stop pakistan led every country should unite. Pakistan army and ISI must understand that they have been badly exposed. Whether Dawood or Laden, Hafiz Saeed or Haqqani all of them are there safely.
This is like a blunder by india. What msg they are sending to pakistani ppl with whome they are engaged in complex composite dialogue. Beware India!! you are following footsteps of america which is widely hated around the globe due to its evil policies.
There has been a long tradition of civilizational contact between India and Afghanistan since the days of Mahmud Ghaznavi and Mohammed Ghori. From our side, there was transfer of wealth then and there is transfer of wealth now.
When will the government of Pakistan do something about this Two-faced Afghan policy? Why don't we hit them where it hurts the most. Send the 3 million Afghan refugees back to Afghanistan, or to their partners India and let them contribute to their bilateral ties. let's see if India will accept them.....Not!!!!
Oh the talk show hosts have their hands full for the next few days!
Precisely the reason why ISI keep Haqqanis as their veritable arm. It is in the strategic interest of Pakistan to destabilize and thereby control Afghanistan through proxies. The Govt. of Afghanistan will always be looking towards New Delhi to save them from them.
Karzai is a mercenery who works in the hands of his masters... what do u expect from him. a new grand alliance has been formed against pakistan. the whole WoT sometimes seems like a facade to destroy Pakistan completely. Now Pakistan has threat from both western and eastern borders.