Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Regional Countries’ Support Pivotal for Afghanistan

Kabul and Delhi entered a strategic deal recently. The deal is expected to boost cooperation between Afghanistan and India in various fields. One of the areas is military cooperation to Afghanistan. Indian military mentors will be giving training to Afghan security forces to bolster their capacity. But the deal is being questioned by many especially by our neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Iran who are against the long term presence of US in Afghanistan. According to them, US led NATO is already conducting a vast training program for Afghan security forces and there is no need for India.

As a matter of fact, the Afghan national army and police are lacking professional capability to defend Afghanistan on their own at current. Therefore, they need more and more training in order to become a competent force to stand independently against the immense threats to the national security of Afghanistan.

The contribution of India to make Afghan forces more capable would not only be economically cheap but also a timely need as the international troops are withdrawing from Afghanistan.

No doubt, the US will be present in Afghanistan beyond 2014 but it does not mean it will be here forever and President Hamid Karzai has already made it clear that the territory of Afghanistan would not be used against any country. In the long run, role and cooperation of regional countries especially India and Pakistan are quite pivotal for Afghanistan.

In addition to India, Pakistan has also offered to train the national army of Afghanistan. Apart from military training, Pakistan's role is being deemed quite vital for bringing peace to Afghanistan and eliminating terrorism.
Afghanistan has suffered the worst forms of conflict in the last three decades. But it is time to give peace a chance.

The regional countries should put their own rivalries aside and come forward to help stabilize Afghanistan by cooperating sincerely. A stable Afghanistan would be important for security in the region and the world.