Apart from the strong presence of Indian advisors dominating the Afghan government, India has established a string of consulates and intelligence posts inside Afghanistan along the border with Pakistan. Way back a report in Defense and Foreign Affairs Special Analysis “Pakistan: the Delicacy, and Inevitability, of the Political Transition Now Underway”, noted: “The Indian government has created a string of consulates along the Afghan side of the Pakistan border, largely as intelligence collection facilities, and the large number of Indian intelligence officials were working closely with Afghan intelligence officials. This caused the Pakistan government some concern, given that the US was facilitating the Indian intelligence build-up against Pakistan to be conducted while the Pakistan Army and government have been working with the US in the area. There is more than a little feeling in Islamabad that this has been an act of poor faith on the part of the US towards Pakistan, on which the US is completely reliant.”
At the same time, Pakistan, now facing a major food and energy shortage, continues to pump economic and other aid to the Karzai government in Afghanistan. Pakistan had committed some $300-million to reconstruction in Afghanistan, and President Karzai asked for releasing a further 30,000 or more tons of wheat aid. Besides, the well-financed Afghan market has the ability to finance wheat and flour smuggled across the border from Pakistan, causing domestic prices and supply into a precarious position.
ESCHMALL SARDAR
Islamabad
