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President Ghani's second India visit promises closer ties | ANI News www.aninews.in By Anil Bhat Related News , aninews

President Ashraf Ghani’s Second India Visit Very Meaningful

Anil Bhat

Three visits in August, preceding President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Dr Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s second visit to India pointed to the  possibility of an enhanced and new role for India in countering Pakistan sponsored/supported terrorism in Afghanistan.

General John Nicholson Junior, commander, Resolute Support Mission and US Forces Afghanistan, came to strongly recommended Afghanistan’s request for more attack helicopter from India. Afghanistan’s army chief, General Qadam Shah Shahim, visiting India from 29 August to 02 September, 2016 met three Services Chiefs, Union Minister of State for External Affairs, former Army Chief Gen VK Singh and National Security advisor Ajit Doval. He visited Indian Military Academy, where he met 135 Afghan cadets out of around 800 undergoing training in India, 50 Para Brigade in Agra and Rajputana Rifles Regimental Centre and National Defence College, both in Delhi. Enhancement of bilateral defence ties and military cooperation include increased training to officers and soldiers of Afghan National Army and assurance by Indian government of further military assistance to Afghanistan.

Gen Shahim’s visit coinciding with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visit to India could not be a mere coincidence. Kerry’s and Nicholson’s visits are also indicators of a shift in the US mindset on Afghanistan. Till recently a major factor preventing the US from joining India or supporting its increased involvement in Afghanistan was of Pakistan being extremely “sensitivite” on this issue, to put it mildly. But things have changed.  US has withheld $300 million aid to Pakistan for not delivering on its assurances to end terror in Afghanistan. In view of this period being the last lap of the Obama administration and the following period being one of the new US president’s initial teething phase, US Defence Department may also be apprehensive about the possibility of Pakistan upping its ante in Afghanistan.

President Ghani’s visit on 14 and 15 September 2016, was marked by warmth and substance, quite in contrast to his first visit in April 2015, when  he had received a cool, if not cold, reception. At that time, Ghani was was seen as leaning towards Pakistan in a bid to improve Afghanistan’s security situation, hoping that Pakistan would use its influence to bring the Afghan Taliban to the table to negotiate peace in Afghanistan. However, as Pakistan’s post-US drawdown intentions became clear and more and more much Afghan blood got shed by Pakistan’s proxies in Afghanistan, Dr. Ghani gave up on Pakistan and tilted toward India, a move that obviously irked Islamabad.   As relations between Kabul and Islamabad declined  Afghanistan’s relations with India again improved and this time by way of frequent interactions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dr. Ghani on telephone and video conferencing.

At Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Ghani was presented a Guard of Honour prior to his meeting with President  Pranab Mukherjee.

Meeting President Ghani, PM Modi fondly recalled his visits to Kabul in December 2015 and Herat June 2016, the fruitful discussions then and in his other meetings with the President in Tehran, in May 2016 and in Tashkent, in June 2016. Both leaders expressed their happiness at the close and regular consultations between India and Afghanistan at all levels, which have served to guide their strategic partnership and strengthen all-round cooperation.

With a major part of the discussion dwelling on the challenge of terrorism, both agreed that the use of terrorism as a tool to achieve political objectives was “the single biggest threat to peace, stability and progress in the region and beyond,” and they called upon the concerned to “ put an end to all sponsorship, support, safe havens and sanctuaries to terrorists, including for those who target Afghanistan and India.” This was an obvious reference to Pakistan, who both have accused of sponsoring or supporting terrorism in the region - charges Islamabad denies.

India promised $1billion in development aid to Afghanistan and officials both countries signed three agreements, including a treaty that would allow them to extradite criminals, economic offenders and people linked to terrorist activity.

While President Ghani stressed the significance of the PM Modi’s assurance conveyed during the joint inauguration of Storay Palace on 22 August 2016 via a video link that 1.25 billion people of India firmly stand with the Afghan people, the latter reiterated India’s abiding support for a unified, sovereign, democratic, peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan. Mr. Modi conveyed India’s readiness to consider further requirements of Afghanistan for capacity and capability building in spheres such as education, health, agriculture, skill development, empowerment of women, energy, infrastructure and strengthening of democratic institutions. Besides a sum of $1 billion, the Prime Minister also proposed to supply world class and easily affordable medicines from India and cooperation in solar energy through mutually agreed instruments.

It was agreed that the Strategic Partnership Council headed by India’s External Affairs Minister and Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister would meet shortly, review the recommendations of the four Joint Working Groups dealing with diverse areas of cooperation and impart further guidance. The leaders expressed satisfaction over signing of the Extradition Treaty, the Agreement on cooperation in civil and commercial matters and the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Outer Space during the President’s visit. It was also stressed that expeditious implementation of the trilateral agreement involving Afghanistan, India and Iran, signed in May 2016, using Chahbahar will augment connectivity within and of the region. In this context, the leaders appreciated the recent decision taken by the three countries to convene a joint forum involving important stake holders, including from business and industry.

Both leaders looked forward to the resumption of India-US-Afghanistan consultations in New York later, very shortly due in September 2016. PM Modi assured President Ghani that India would continue to engage with the international community to assist Afghanistan in all possible ways and in this context, the leaders underscored the significance of the Amritsar Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA) on 04 December 2016, as well as the Brussels Conference on 05 October 2016. They noted that the choice of Amritsar underscored the value of restoring connectivity and was in consonance with this year’s theme for HoA, ‘Addressing Challenges, Achieving Prosperity’. It also underscores that India and Afghanistan remain committed to the expeditious realization of seamless two-way connectivity between South Asia and Central Asia.  Mr. Modi extended an invitation to Dr. Ghani to grace the inauguration of the Amritsar Ministerial Conference, which the latter accepted.

Addressing seniors of Indian industry, President Ghani highlighted the trade and economic opportunities and potential of Afghanistan. His address to a select gathering of strategic experts at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) on ‘Fifth Wave of Political Violence and Global Terrorism,’ was indeed well appreciated.

Dwelling on the current global state of the ‘fifth wave’ of political violence, President Ghani termed terrorism as a medium term challenge. He called for a fundamental change in the regional and global response it through improved information sharing and regional understanding, increased state level cooperation, greater public understanding of democratic processes through debates and discourses, and greater role of civil society and businesses. Describing the ‘fifth wave’ as probably one of the “most well-financed movements in history” he observed that “in the absence of rules of the game”, and due to the willingness of some states to sponsor non-state actors, the phenomena has evolved over they years with deepened and broadened techniques. The understanding of the current political violence has largely been reactive, due to which global actions have been sporadic and not sustained, he observed.

Elaborating on the revolution in networking as a striking feature of the fifth wave, the Afghan president observed that the terrorist networks that previously used to be face-to-face or in small groups have now become face-to-faceless, resulting in a distinct form of mobilisation.

Political violence is not confined to a specific culture, religion or geographic space, and requires careful analysis. Criminality and political violence have become organically related, he said, adding that there is a distinctive form of violence that is inflicted on the citizens and that results in erosion of state authority.

Insisting that the minority groups should not be allowed to hijack civilisations, the President pointed out that the terrorists target public spaces to disrupt the compact between the citizens and the state. The objective is to induce fear in a systematic manner which effectively breaks the bond of trust between citizens and state.

Director General, IDSA, Jayant Prasad lauded President Ghani for his message of optimism and confidence that reflected the resilience, patience and perseverance of the Afghan people. 

Interacting with some of President Ghani’s delegation members this writer observed that this visit was a stimulating experience for them. The stage seems set for substantial up gradation of  strategic and         economic ties between the two historically close nations.