India and Afghanistan have reviewed the security situation in the war-ravaged South Asian country and decided to bolster bilateral defence ties.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met her Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani in New Delhi earlier this week close on the heels of the US announcement of its new Afghan policy in which the Donald Trump administration called for increased Indian involvement in Afghanistan due to (India’s) known support to the war against terror and stabilising policies in the region.
During their meeting, Swaraj assured Rabbani that New Delhi would provide further assistance to Afghan defence forces, saying that India considers its relationship with the neighbouring country as an “article of faith”. She also expressed hope that the two countries would overcome the challenges, posed by cross border terrorism and safe havens and sanctuaries, together.

After co-chairing the Indo-Afghan Strategic Partnership Council with Swaraj on September 11, Rabbani attended a joint press conference in the Indian capital. He informed the media that India and Afghanistan decided to strengthen security co-operation, saying: “India has further agreed to provide assistance to Afghan national defence forces.” The visiting minister thanked the Indian government for offering help, insisting that Kabul has long been pressing for greater Indian assistance in defence supplies and capacity building.
At the same time, Rabbani made clear that Afghanistan’s friendship with India “does not mean hostility to any other country (read Pakistan)”. In the presence of Swaraj, he said that it would not be a zero-sum game as both the countries were victims of terrorism and violent extremism.

Meanwhile, Rabbani urged Pakistan to take necessary actions against terror outfits, such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), stressing that they were posing a serious threat to regional stability. According to the Afghan foreign minister, it is important for Pakistan not to allow terror outfits to run their networks from inside its territory. He further said that a change in Pakistan’s policy towards these outfits could ensure peace and stability in South Asia.
Rabbani once again urged Pakistan to join hands with Afghanistan and India and become the development partner of the two neighbours. India has already launched a USD 2 billion co-operation programme with Afghanistan to support road-building and establishment of hospitals. Currently, India also trains Afghan police and Army officials at various military colleges (in India).

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Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das