Modi, Karzai discuss Af developments

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday had a meeting with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and “discussed recent developments in Afghanistan”.

This comes against the backdrop of the unease caused by the new Ashraf Ghani government’s move to ink an intelligence cooperation agreement with Islamabad in New Delhi. 

Modi’s meeting with Karzai assumed significance as the former Afghan president is among many critics of the proposed deal between National Directorate of Security (NDS) of Afghanistan and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan. The deal not only irked New Delhi, but also triggered a storm within Afghanistan, where many parliamentarians on Saturday demanded President Ashraf Ghani to review the proposed agreement. 

“The prime minister reiterated that India and Afghanistan share age-old ties,” the government stated in a press release issued after Modi-Karzai meeting. “India deeply values the friendship of the Afghan people. India stands with the people of Afghanistan, as they build a united, stable, democratic and prosperous nation. The prime minister reassured that India will continue to provide assistance to all the people of Afghanistan based on their need and priority,” it said. 

Though Karzai often joined India to publicly blame Pakistan for continuing exporting terror to Afghanistan, his successor has apparently been keen to overhaul Kabul’s relations with Islamabad, ostensibly to ensure latter’s support to his government’s efforts to start negotiations with Taliban.

The ISI-NDS proposed agreement came at a time when India stepped up efforts to deepen its engagement with the new Afghan government.