Afghan President Hamid Karzai will seek increased military aid from India during a three-day visit starting on Monday and will discuss recent cross-border clashes with Pakistan, an aide said.
“Yes, we will ask for assistance for the strengthening of our security forces,” Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said in a briefing on Saturday ahead of the trip.
Karzai’s visit could irk Pakistan, especially if any arms deal materialises. Pakistan considers Afghanistan its own backyard and suspects India of seeking greater influence there as a strategy to hem in the country from both sides.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since they were divided into two countries when they gained independence from Britain in 1947. Afghanistan and India signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2011 that has included Indian military training of Afghan security forces.
Faizi indicated yesterday that Karzai would seek to expand that cooperation. “Whatever our Afghan security forces would need for assistance and help, India would help us,” he said.
Afghan analyst Wadir Safi, a political science professor at Kabul University, says the timing of Karzai’s India trip is likely related to recent border skirmishes with Pakistan.
Each side has been accusing the other of firing across the mountainous border region for months, including a skirmish earlier this month that killed an Afghan border policeman.