Blueprint for enhancing U.S.-India cooperation

ROBERT BLACKWILL and NARESH CHANDRA, co-chairs of the Joint Study Group sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations and Aspen Institute India recommend Washington to express strong support New Delhi's peaceful rise as a crucial component of Asian security and stability, and call for both countries to endorse a long term residual U.S. military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014 and advocate a resumption of regular meetings of the Quad states (U.S., India, Japan and Australia) as well as periodic invitations to like-minded Asian nations.

Their report, "The United States and India: A Shared Strategic Future", covers areas such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Middle East, economic and defense co-operation, climate change, energy technology and makes the following key recommendations:

On Pakistan:

• Classified exchanges between U.S. and India on multiple Pakistan contingencies
• Conditioning U.S. military aid to Pakistan on concrete anti-terrorist measures by the Pakistan military against groups inimical to India and the U.S. in Afghanistan
• U.S. to provide technical assistance to Pakistan to protect its nuclear arsenal
• India to continue bilateral negotiations with Pakistan on issues including Kashmir and trilateral discussions with Afghanistan

On Afghanistan

• India to intensify multidimensional co-operation with Afghanistan.
• Determine usefulness of Indian training of Afghanistan security forces

On China and Asia:

• Jointly and individually enlist China’s cooperation on matters of global and regional concern and not desire confrontation with Beijing.
• Brief each other on their assessments of China and intensify consultations on Asian security.

On the Middle East:

• Collaborate on democratic transitions in the Middle East—with Arab interest and agreement.
• India to intensify discussions with Iran concerning the stability of Iraq and Afghanistan.

On economic cooperation:

• Enhance their Strategic Dialogue to include economics and trade.
• Begin discussions on a free trade agreement.

On climate change and energy technology, the collaboration should:

• Bridge disagreements and identify creative areas for collaboration.
• Conduct joint feasibility study on space-based solar power.

On defense cooperation, the United States should:

• Train and provide expertise to the Indian military in areas such as space and cyberspace operations where India’s defense establishment is currently weak, but its civil and private sector has strengths.
• The United States to help strengthen India’s indigenous defense industry.

Security transition in Afghanistan

SHANTHIE MARIET D’SOUZA fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore argues that high low-quality recruitment, high attrition and desertion coupled with non-standard training methodologies had affected the effectiveness of the Afghan national security forces, resulting in a mismatched ethnic composition and the rush to pass responsibility onto this relatively new and fragile force could prove disastrous for the country and the region.

In an ISAS study, “Prospects for ‘Transition’ in the Afghan Security Sector: A Reality Check?”, she draws attention to indiscipline, illiteracy, drug abuse and corruption as key problems in the backdrop of a rapid expansion of the army and police creating serious concerns of leading to a hyper-militarized state with weak civilian governance structures.

She concludes that a sustainable transition in the Afghan security sector could only be achieved in combination with a corresponding transition within the civilian sector with strengthened government institutions.

Wait and watch

SUSHANT SAREEN of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses argues that although an American exit from Afghanistan would in the worst case lead to a "terrorists r us" AfPak with India needing to work towards preventing the fallout, it might actually be a good thing in the post 9-11 world. In an IDSA Comments article, "AfPak dialectics can work in India’s favour", he argues that an American exit would ensure enhanced strategic leverage of the US over Pakistan with Pakistan being caught in a Catch-22 situation either bowing to international dictates on rooting jihadists or risk international isolation.

Hamam in Afghanistan

SEDAT LACINER, Director of Turkey's International Strategic Research Organization (USAK) claims that Turkey's status as a Muslim country, the NATO power with the largest army after the U.S. and its close historical ties to both Afghanistan and Pakistan made it an ideal country in any future plan for Afghan reconstruction. In an article in the the Turkish Weekly, "Turkey Should Play Further Role in Afghanistan", he states that Turkey could train the Afghan police in addition to the training its currently imparting to the Afghan army divisions and outlines a region-based approach towards Afghan economic reconstruction cautioning that Western goals for a fully functioning democracy in Afghanistan was unrealistic.

Soft vs Hard power in Afghanistan

Harsh Pant of King's College, London claims that India’s attempt to leverage its ‘soft power’ in Afghanistan by focusing on civilian matters is becoming increasingly risky in the wake of the attacks on the Indian embassy in Kabul and that could force a change in strategy. In a commentary for ISN Security Watch, "India in Afghanistan", he states that the debate on how to approach Afghanistan is not close to a resolution in Indian political corridors, any change in strategy will have serious implications for the future of India’s rise as global power and regional security in South Asia.

Fighting corruption in Afghanistan

Michael E O’ Hanlon, Director of Research at Brookings Institution and Jane Harman, member of the U.S. Congress lament that anti-corruption campaign had been largely overlooked in the west’s strategy to address the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. In an article for Brookings Institution, “Troops to Progress on Afghanistan’s Corruption“, they argue that the counterinsurgency strategy would not succeed if a larger anti-corruption effort including such measures as ombudsmen at various levels to handle citizen complaints and firing of corrupt officials, were not implemented.