India - Pakistan's Nemesis - Signed Defense Pact With Afghanistan

Afghanistan and Indian Leaders 

After years in which Karzai kept India at arm's length on security issues in Afghanistan, his willingness to seek military training "is a joint message he and the Americans are sending to Pakistan that, if you don't come on board and stop supporting these guerrillas, we have an option to strengthen ties with India," Amin Saikal, an Afghan political scientist at Australian National University, said yesterday in a phone interview.

India To Boost Afghanistan Ties, Irks Pakistan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai began a two-day visit to India on Tuesday that could boost the two countries' economic ties and lead to an agreement for India to train police, in a trip likely to irk Pakistan as tension grows in the region.

India is one of Afghanistan's biggest bilateral donors, having pledged about $2 billion since the 2001 U.S. led-invasion, for projects from the construction of highways to the building of the Afghan parliament.

Indian Foreign Minister S.M Krishna said on Tuesday a strategic partnership agreement would be signed, a formal tightening of links that could spark concerns in Pakistan that India is increasingly competing for influence in Afghanistan.

The agreement would be one of several being negotiated by Kabul, including one with the United States, that are part of an Afghan bid for greater security as NATO troops head home.

Israel is (indirectly) Training Afghanistan Police in Counter-Terror

India, whose military was trained in counter-terror by Israel, will train Afghani Police.


The Indian government hopes to reach agreement with Hamid Karzai, Afhan president, on the new security training programme during his two-day visit to the Indian capital which begins on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the offer. If Mr Karzai accepts, specialist training of high-ranking Afghan police officers in India could begin before the end of the year, according to people close to the talks.

India To Begin Production of Nuclear Missile

The Indian government has sanctioned serial production of an advanced homegrown nuclear-capable missile after a successful Sept. 25 test-firing of the Shourya, which can travel at a speed up to Mach 7.5.

India tests nuclear-capable missile

India successfully test-fired a short-range, nuclear-capable missile on Monday, the Defence Ministry said.

Israel and India to Sign Free Trade Agreement

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Indian and Israel, which has been on the cards for quite some time now, would change the composition of business between the two countries, Ambassador of Israel in India Alon Ushpiz said in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Chinese and Indian Navies Square Off on High Seas

A little over a fortnight before China conducted sea trials for its first aircraft carrier, an Indian naval ship slipped into the South China Sea.

INS Airavat, an amphibious assault vessel designed to launch troops on enemy beaches, was on a show-the-flag mission in July when it was challenged as it sailed from Vietnam's Nha Trang port near the deep-water harbour of Cam Ranh Bay.

A caller identifying himself as an official of the Chinese navy warned the ship on an open radio channel that it was entering Chinese waters as it steamed toward the Vietnamese port of Haiphong, the Indian foreign ministry said.

Nothing happened, the ship sailed on, and both India and China have since played down the incident, with New Delhi saying the vessel was well within international waters in the South China Sea and that there was no confrontation.