In the history of the Indian Armed Forces, we have had two major training / peace keeping operations. The Sri Lankan Mission and Operation Cactus (in Maldives). This count does not include the numerous other missions that we have participated in under the UN banner. As a matter of fact, India is the largest contributor to the UN’s Peace Keeping force.
Hence, India’s decision to send a training team to Kabul was a historic one. In the past few years, we have had delegations visit Afghanistan, but no one was stationed there.
The team which was supposed to comprise of 10-12 people was rather small to have a significant impact.
A former intelligence chief was quoted as saying
What I have heard is that it is a small team which is being dispatched. I am slightly surprised. The Americans felt should we be given this role, it will create a problem with the Pakistanis.
But now it looks like the Indian government is backing out of the plan.
An External Affairs Ministry spokesman said India had no such plans.
Defence establishments in India hold training programmes from time-to-time for military personnel from other countries, including Afghanistan. However, there is no proposal to send Indian army personnel to Afghanistan for training the Afghan army
Fear of political ramifications? I certainly think so.
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