Indians debate sending troops to Afghanistan

According to the New York Times of July 9, the suicide car explosion that killed more that 40 people outside the Indian embassy in Kabul, including two important members of the mission, has sparked a debate whether India needs to dispatch troops to Afghanistan protect its people and investments.

Post 9/11, India has spent more than $750 million building a strategic road across Afghanistan's southwest, training teachers and civil servants, and supporting the project to erect the national Parliament building.

During this process the 4,000 Indian citizens working in Afghanistan have become increasingly vulnerable. The Taliban militants are aware of India's cozy relations with the Northern Alliance-dominated government in Kabul.

Pakistan suspects that India's five consular missions in Afghanistan are being used against its interests, while the Indian air base in Tajikistan just north of Afghanistan could also threaten its security. The presence of Indian troops in Afghanistan would ring alarm bells in Islamabad.

The embassy attack appears to be a strong signal to lay off Afghanistan. Militants and extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan have become bolder by the day. Across the border in Islamabad, a few days earlier a suicide bomber killed 10 policemen providing security to a Lal Masjid congregation. The day after the embassy blast in Kabul a large number of mysterious explosions rocked Karachi.

Some Indian policy makers may be gung ho for a strong presence in Afghanistan, but others remember India's ill-fated military intervention in Sri Lanka. Military involvement in Afghanistan may lead to open-ended embroilment.

Traditionally, Indians believe that Pakistan's ISI is behind every blast in India, and Pakistanis likewise suspect India's RAW for fomenting violence against Pakistan.

While these strongly held sentiments die hard, many reasonable, moderate people on both sides of the India- Pakistan border believe that the two countries ought to speedily resolve their disputes peacefully in a spirit of mutual accommodation, and focus their energies on tackling their economic, social and environmental problems.