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    October 04, 2011

Amid Tension with Pakistan, Karzai Begins Two-Day Visit to India

   VOA News
   Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai (R) steps off an airplane after
   arriving in New Delhi, October 4, 2011.
   Photo: AFP
   Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai (R) steps off an airplane after
   arriving in New Delhi, October 4, 2011.

   Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in India for a two-day visit that is
   expected to strengthen the two countries' economic and security ties.
   Mr. Karzai and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are scheduled to
   meet in New Delhi later Tuesday. In addition to economic deals, the two
   leaders are expected to sign an agreement that calls for India to
   increase its training of Afghan security forces.
   President Karzai's trip to India, Pakistan's traditional foe, comes as
   regional tensions are on the rise.
   India, which has already pledged $2 billion in aid to Afghanistan since
   the start of the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, is eager to expand its
   regional influence and prevent the spread of unrest as NATO troops pull
   out of the country by the end of 2014.
   Both Indian and Afghan authorities have accused Pakistan of creating
   unrest in Afghanistan, a charge that Pakistan denies.
   On Monday, Karzai again accused Pakistan of playing a "double game" in
   dealing with extremists. Afghanistan's intelligence agency says it has
   evidence that last month's killing of former Afghan president
   Burhanuddin Rabbani was planned in Pakistan.
   India also accuses Pakistan of plotting attacks on Indian targets
   within Afghanistan, including two bomb attacks on its embassy in 2008
   and 2009.
   The United States has accused Pakistan of having "links" with the
   Haqqani network, an al-Qaida-affiliated Afghan militant group, which
   Washington says has safe havens in Pakistan's North Waziristan region.
   Last week, the outgoing chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff,
   Admiral Mike Mullen, called the Haqqani network a "veritable arm" of
   the ISI, Pakistan's main intelligence agency.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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