It’s India’s profile that is bothering the extremists in Afghanistan. Prior to the killing of Political Counsellor V. Venkateswara Rao, Defence Adviser Brigadier Ravi Datt Mehta, and ITBP staffers Ajai Pathaniya and Roop Singh, there have been three suicide attacks on Indian nationals this year.

All the attacks were on Indians working on the strategic $266 million Zaranj-Delaram road, which will provide an all-weather link from Afghanistan to the Iranian port of Chabahar.

Monday’s suicide attack, however, is in a separate league. It’s a pointer to the growing strength of the Taliban-Al Qaeda forces and, simultaneously, the inability of Afghan security forces to deal with the jehadis.

India, which has pledged $750 million to Afghanistan’s reconstruction since 2002, is the country’s fifth largest donor after the US, UK, Japan and Germany. This places India among the big players in Afghanistan.

The ferocity of Monday’s attack, in which an Indian diplomat has been killed for the first time in the line of duty since the murder of Ravindra Mhatre, assistant high commissioner in Birmingham, points to the obvious success India has achieved in reconstruction efforts.

The idea is to send Indians home; the attack is intended to terrorise them into fleeing: why work where you are not safe?

New Delhi believes it has played a significant role in Afghanistan’s reconstruction. “This is based on the understanding that democracy and development are key instruments in ensuring that Afghanistan become a source of regional stability and does not slide back into extremism…” the website of India’s embassy in Kabul says.

Like in Iraq and Pakistan, jehadi elements think nothing of hitting civilians in the course of their actions. According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, till end-June there had been 698 civilian casualties as opposed to 430 for the same period in 2007.

In 2007, the level of terrorist activity increased sharply over 2006. “An average of 566 incidents per month was recorded in 2007, compared to 425 per month in the previous year. Of the over 8,000 conflict-related fatalities in 2007, over 1,500 were civilians,” the UN Secretary-General said in a report to the Security Council earlier this year.

Indians are being targeted because they are working in key jobs there. The attack on our embassy and diplomats is a wake-up call. As long as our citizens are living and working in Afghanistan, the dangers posed by the jehadis will lurk round the corner.

Brigadier had warned of the attack: Brigadier Ravi Datt Mehta perhaps had a premonition of what’s to come weeks ahead of Monday’s suicide attack in Kabul. He knew militants could strike at will.

In a security advisory issued by him on May 29, the military attaché and defence advisor to Afghanistan, had warned against vehicle-borne suicide attacks on international military (IM) convoys. Concerned about the safety of Indian nationals in Afghanistan, he had advised them “to keep a safe distance from IM convoys as they continue to be a target of militants”.

The advisory came on the heels of a vehicle-borne IED (improvised explosive device) targeting an IM convoy comprising two SUVs near Yakatoot area on the Kabul-Jalalabad road. Three Afghan nationals were killed and four civilians injured, aside from three IM personnel being severely wounded.

Mehta had then said, “The incident again displays the determination of the militants to strike at will. Indian nationals are advised to exercise due caution and maintain extra vigil.” He asked them to avoid any fixed pattern of movement in the city, including regular restaurants frequented by foreigners. Mehta had sought to generate awareness about the prevailing security scenario through print and electronic media as well as interaction with fellow colleagues.

Attempting to hinder India’s reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, a suicide bomber had killed an ITBP jawan and injured four others in southwestern Afghanistan on June 4. The suspected Taliban bomber set off his explosives near a convoy of Indian workers engaged in the construction of the high-risk $175 million Zaranj-Delaram road project.

Before that, a Taliban bomber had set off his explosives near a convoy of Indian workers on April 12, killing two BRO engineers and injuring five others.

Among the Indians in Afghanistan are over 300 BRO personnel working on the road project, guarded by an equal number of ITBP commandos. — Courtesy Hindustan Times

It was disappointing to see India go down in the final after playing so well throughout. But if I have to draw some consolation, it is the performance of Ajantha Mendis, a fellow spinner, and all credit to him for the way he bowled. On flat pitches, bowlers have had a tough time and for someone to run through a batting line-up was a big achievement.

India’s top order made runs in the tournament and going by the way they played Mendis, it’s obviously not easy to pick him. When you’re struggling to pick a bowler out of his hand, the usual thing is to play him off the wicket. What was surprising was that many Indian batsmen did not pick his length early enough. The safest option, when you’re not quite sure which way the ball will turn, is to play straight and some of our batsmen made the mistake of playing across the line and paid the price.

Mendis uses a grip that you see quite often in tennis ball cricket, but to master this with a cricket ball takes some doing and he’s obviously managed that. He bowled wicket-to-wicket and employed subtle variations. It’s not that he spun the ball appreciably but he showed that when you are accurate, all it takes is small movement to beat the stroke. — For detailed report See Hindustantimes.com