Is India operating as NATO agent in Afghanistan?
-DR. ABDUL RUFF

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India and Pakistan, having obtained nukes by using the Kashmir issue and fought wars over the issue, continue to view each other chief enemy in the region India is ahead in military strength and economic muscles.

Both have vested interest in Afghanistan and promote its presence in the land of Afghans. As there is prospect for  peace in Afghanistan with the departure of foreign military forces,  New Delhi  is pushing ahead to have control over Afghanistan, seeking to have a say in domestic affairs as well as  its foreign policy. Already India, which keeps bulks of its population in poverty, has spend money on infrastructural facility  

Recently, India, perhaps on advice  from Washington, has signed an agreement to pay Russia for the  supply terror goods and military equipment to the Afghan military as US led NATO combat troops, occupying Afghanistan on fake threat perceptions  following the Sept-11 hoax,  prepare to leave the country, in a move that risks infuriating Pakistan.

Under the deal, smaller arms such as light artillery and mortars will be sourced from Russia and moved to Afghanistan. Clearly, the military deal  could eventually involve the transfer of heavy artillery, tanks and even combat helicopters that the Afghans have been asking India for since last year.

With US permission, India has established  many diplomatic and intelligence   joints  across Afghanistan, especially at Pakistan border zones,  has already been training military personnel from Afghanistan, hosted a 60-member Special Forces group last year in the deserts of Rajasthan and supplied equipment such as combat vehicles and field medical support facilities.

Pakistan fears India is trying also trying to destabilize Pakistan with US and Afghanistan help, especially in Baluchistan and other tribal areas. However, Pakistan is helpless because US also plans to destabilize the nation born to promote Islam and help Muslims in all walks of life but ended, like India, in  pampering the rich and corporate lords. . 

Perhaps USA would share with India the economic burned in  militarization of Afghanistan. Both USA and India hates Islam. They do not want Islamization of any Muslim nation on earth. Both opposed Islamic rule  or Talibanization of Afghanistan.  The decision to meet some of Afghanistan's military hardware demands  sourced them from Russia points to a deepening role in Afghanistan aimed at preventing it from slipping back into the hands of the Islamic parties or Taliban that are friendly to Pakistan and hostile to India.

NATO and Russia jointly ran a counter-narcotics training program for officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia, designed to counter the flow of drugs from Afghanistan, and a "helicopter maintenance trust fund" to provide technical training
The NATO-led force still has some 51,000 soldiers in Afghanistan but they are due to end combat operations by the end of this year, leaving Afghan forces entirely responsible.

Russia-NATO cooperation on Afghanistan lies disrupted by Crimea disagreement. With Russia getting out of NATO's grip over Ukraine, decision to suspend cooperation with Russia will affect their cooperation in the flow of Afghan opium abroad and keeping Afghan military helicopters flying. Afghan opium cultivation has hit a record high as international forces prepare to leave the country, the United Nations said last November. Moscow has cooperated in fighting Afghan drugs because Russia is a major market for Afghan heroin.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that the alliance was suspending military and civilian cooperation with Moscow after its forces occupied Ukraine's Crimea region.Rasmussen said Russia's cooperation with NATO in Afghanistan , on training counter-narcotics personnel, maintenance of Afghan Air Force helicopters and a transit route out of the war-torn country is on hold and a senior alliance official said that the counter-narcotics and helicopter programs would in fact be affected. He said they are exploring avenues to see if there are other ways we can provide training to those counter-narcotics officials through other agencies or in cooperation with other partners.

Here the USA wants Indian role. Officially Russia sells terror equipment to India  but the goods to be  exported to Afghanistan.

Even as it agreed to sell terror gods to Afghanistan on Indian demand for the same, Russia has also accused NATO of reverting to the "verbal jousting" of the Cold War by suspending cooperation.

Meanwhile, Russia plans to spend between 800 billion and 1 trillion rubles ($22-28.6 billion) until 2020 to implement a federal program aimed at developing Crimea and Sevastopol, Ria Novosti reported.

India has got many pressing economic issues regarding  fate of less privileged , underprivileged and poor people .Already,  with a view to appeasing the IMF and  World Bank, Indian regime has cut several subsidies in the nation, causing  difficulties for the poor, peasants and villagers.

In stead of wasting huge  resources on other nations in order  just to show the greatness of  Indian regime,  it is worthwhile and advisable to focus on these   poor Indians  by spending these scarce  resources on them. 

It sounds awkward that Indian regime, while ignoring the fate of the domestic poor, wants  make  the  fascist NATO happy by wasting is resources on terror goods for Afghanistan.