ISI - the tail that wags the dog!

Foreign secretary in Kabul, NSA warns of more attacks
13 Jul 2008, 1622 hrs IST,IANS

NEW DELHI: A day after India blamed the Pakistani intelligence for the suicide attack on its Embassy, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon reached Kabul even as National Security Adviser (NSA) M.K. Narayanan warned on Sunday of more attacks on Indian assets in Afghanistan.

On July 7, a suicide bomber blew up a car bomb outside the Indian Embassy killing 58 people, including the defence attaché, Brigadier R.D. Mehta, press counsellor V.V. Rao, two Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel and a Afghan staff employee.

Afghanistan immediately blamed a "regional intelligence agency" for the blasts but India maintained a cautious silence till Saturday.

"We have no doubt that the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) is behind this. We are in the favor of the peace process, but the ISI is not in anyway part of it," Narayanan had said. "The ISI is playing evil. The ISI needs to be destroyed."

Foreign Secretary Menon arrived in Kabul on Sunday to take stock of the situation. "India is committed to partnership with Afghanistan," he told journalists there.

India has its largest overseas aid programme in Afghanistan, amounting to $750 million. The major projects include construction of a strategic road that will connect land-locked Afghanistan to an Iranian port, and a power transmission line to bring electricity from Uzbekistan.

Menon will be discussing the results of the investigations into the bomb blasts as well as ways to step up security measures for Indians.

There are over 3,500 Indian nationals in Afghanistan, working on Indian government-sponsored projects as well as those employed by multinational forces.

Menon's visit has coincided with intelligence inputs that point to more attacks, including on Indian consulates. India has four consulates in Afghanistan besides its embassy in Kabul.

Speaking to a television channel on Sunday, Narayanan said: "We apprehend intensification of attacks".

He said there could be "three or four" attacks on Indian installations. Narayanan said India was "very unhappy at the turn of events", referring to the alleged involvement of ISI in the car bomb attack.

On the possibility of sending Indian special forces to Kabul to provide security to the Indian missions, he noted: "We do not like to send Indian forces to countries abroad."

He said the option would be considered by the appropriate authorities.

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