Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday said he had given a military equipment wish list to India during a visit this week. This has presented a conundrum for New Delhi as it weighs whether arming the Afghan army is in its interests.
“We have a wish list that we have put before the government of India,” Karzai told reporters, adding that it was up to India to decide how much help it was prepared to give Afghanistan.
Karzai would not say what was on the list, but Indian media reported that it included 105 mm artillery, medium-lift aircraft, bridge-laying equipment and trucks.
The Indian government had no immediate comments on Karzai’s statement. Karzai’s spokesman said both countries had agreed not to discuss the contents of the list.
An Indian government official said earlier that India had already provided some military equipment to Afghanistan but he declined to give details. He said he was surprised that Afghanistan was speaking openly about a weapons request.
India is not a major weapons exporter and suffers chronic shortages of defense equipment itself, including artillery.
Afghanistan’s request for military equipment comes as its relations with Pakistan, which have been difficult for decades, are again at a low.
This month, Pakistan border guards and Afghan police clashed over a contested border area. The Afghan police complained they had been out-gunned and said they wanted heavy artillery and tanks.
Afghan security forces have also made no secret of their desire for an air force.
The clash over their border, which Afghanistan has never officially recognised, raised new tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Afghanistan and its Western allies have for years complained that Pakistan had failed to act against militants taking refuge in the country and launching attacks into Afghanistan from there.
Pakistan denies helping the Taliban and complains of militants fighting the Pakistani state taking refuge in Afghanistan.
However, Karzai did not directly criticise Pakistan on Wednesday.
He said no peace deal was possible in Afghanistan without Pakistan’s involvement because of its influence over the Taliban, who were fighting to expel western forces, topple Karzai’s government and establish Islamist rule.
“Pakistan cooperation is key to a politically successful peace process and key to the end of violence in Afghanistan,” he said.
He said that at a meeting with Pakistan prime minister-elect Nawaz Sharif last year, the latter had acknowledged the danger that “terrorism and radicalism” posed to Pakistan.
“I hope the new prime minister will be able to deliver what he so much wishes to achieve,” Karzai said.
Sharif has said he aims to boost ties with India.
