Afghanistan has already asked for assistance in terms of supply of lethal and non-lethal weapons from India. Sources in the Indian External Affairs Ministry, however, do not deny this possibility but say “there is a mechanism to deal with this issue.”

India is already helping to train Afghan forces. India and Afghanistan have signed a mutual Strategic Partnership Agreement which deals with various sectors. Under this agreement Strategic Partnership Council has been set up co-chaired by the External Affairs Minister of India and Foreign Minister of Afghanistan. This Council which met in New Delhi in summer last year has four subgroups namely on political and security issues, economy and trade, project development, human resources development and capacity building.

Sources say that the Afghan request for supply of lethal and non-lethal arms needs to be discussed in the Strategic Council.

NATO forces are slated to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014 and the country will also go to the polls in the same year to elect a new President. As per Afghan Constitution President Karzai cannot opt to be in the race for presidency as he had already two terms in the office. The NATO forces withdrawal would, therefore, mean more engagement of regional powers to help the war-ravaged country in maintaining internal security and continuing development process.

President Karzai on his arrival at Chandigarh on May 20 will proceed to Jallandhar where he will be accorded with an honorary doctorate at Lovely Professional University.

On May 21 he will meet the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and discuss with the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Dr Singh will host a dinner in his honour.
President Karzai is visiting India at a time when the Indian Vice President M Hamid Ansari will be leaving for Uzbekistan to discuss with Uzbek leaders on regional cooperation for maintaining stability and progress in Afghanistan. India is part of the Istanbul Process which calls for involvement of regional powers for bailing out Afghanistan in its period of transition.

Therefore, President Karzai expects a lot from India and New Delhi have much to do.

India is already engaged in reconstruction of Afghanistan by building roads, constructing the Parliament building, setting up the first steel plant at Hajigak in Bamyan Province, building of Salma Dam. It has offered duty free access to goods from Afghanistan. Under ITEC programme 2000 Afghan students are pursuing their studies in India.

India has built transmission lines to supply power from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan.

With peaceful transfer of power in Pakistan, India expects cooperation from its immediate neighbor for a transit route to Afghanistan.

Alternate transit route is under consideration with India committing to develop Chabahar port Iran and the Iranian government has planned to develop rail links connecting Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Iraq. The Indian Vice President M Hamid Ansari is likely discuss these issues with the Uzbek leadership. He discuss the issue of counter-terrorism.

India is also slated to discuss reconstruction of Afghanistan during the coinciding visit of the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on May 19-22. Indian and China have in various ways discussing the future of Afghanistan. An Additional Secretary in the Indian External Affairs Ministry visited Beijing a few weeks ago and had a first round of bilateral discussions with the Chinese. Russia, China and India have also discussed the issue at the level of national security advisors.