The Kabul test

Among those killed: Major Laishram Jyotin Singh (who courageously tried to overpower one of the suicide bombers),who was providing medical assistance; Major Deepak Yadav,who was teaching English at the Afghan Military Academy; Nawab Khan,a tabla player,who was part of a troupe sent to Kabul by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations; Bhola Ram,an engineer; Nitish Chibber,a staffer at the Kandahar consulate. Their deaths highlight the difficult circumstances in which Indians have been working to build long-term local capabilities in post-2001 Afghanistan: in education,health services,infrastructure (the construction of roads,power transmission lines,even the parliament building) — and as SEWA’s statement of resolve to persist with its activities in Afghanistan shows,in imparting livelihood training. Together,they provide a measure of India’s commitment to nation-building in Afghanistan. And the diversity of non-military ways in which local infrastructure and human skills are being upgraded has been vital to India’s strategic gains and goodwill in that country. However,the repeated attacks on Indian targets show the vulnerability of Indian personnel. After the embassy strikes,measures were taken to revamp security and create residential complexes. Yet the fact that military officers were housed in guesthouses indicates that these measures need to be expedited.

This is a pivotal year in Afghanistan. Determined diplomacy must be sustained by dogged preparedness. Efforts to guard our people must be reassessed,and provocations like Friday’s countered with a redoubling of their good works. It is not just that Afghanistan is crucial to combating terrorism directed at this country. It is also that this unique form of diplomacy and non-military assistance to Afghanistan is being tested for India’s stamina and heart to play the big power game — and to play it on its own terms.