Afghanistan - President Ghani Suspends Karzai's Request for Indian Arms

Government sources have confirmed that President Ashraf Ghani has suspended a request made by former president Hamid Karzai in his final months in office that India supply Afghanistan's military with heavy weaponry.

When the request was made, Karzai was on his way out, relations with India were continuing to grow, and the Afghan Ministry of Defense (MoD) had said the national security forces were in dire need of more heavy weaponry. President Karzai provided a list of weapons to the Indian government, which was initially rejected, but later New Delhi agreed to assess the request.

Regarding Ghani's choice to rescind the ask, Mohammad Mohaqeq, the Second Deputy of Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, said that the government would likely get the weapons from another source. "If president the has rejected this, there is the possibility that he has thought of another place to confidently get these arms from," he said.

Mohaqeq went on to suggest that President Ghani would likely follow in Karzai's footsteps when it comes to expanding relations with India broadly speaking. "I believe that the president would have a trip to India and he will not contradict all the works of the former president, we need the equipment and should get it from anywhere."

The Afghan Ministry of Defense (MoD) has responded by reinforcing that they are in desperate need for the heavy weaponry. "So far we haven't received weapons from India for the national army," MoD deputy spokesman Dawlat Waziri told TOLOnews. "All the equipment available to us is American, only our officers and soldiers have travelled to India for training, but we need this equipment," he added.

Some analysts have said the rescinding of the arms deal request is part of a broader effort by the national unity government to improve Kabul's ties with Islamabad, which have been strained for years.

"Without considering the political balance while forging relations with regional countries and the world, particularly India, as an ally and strategic partner and one of the major donors to Afghanistan and funding source of big projects, this could lead Afghanistan to crisis and deadlock," military analyst Jawed Kohistani said.

Afghanistan and India have enjoyed increasing close relations in spheres such as the economy, trade and military cooperation. India is one of the top five donor countries to Afghanistan.