Afghanistan's Army Chief General Qadam Shah Shamim expects to hand over the list to Indian authorities during his upcoming visit to New Delhi, which starts August 29. According to sources, the list was prepared after a consultation with the US Army. In addition to attack and utility helicopters, the list also includes artillery, ammunition, tanks and 'trainer' vehicles.
However, many within the Indian establishment are questioning whether it would be wise of India to fulfill Afghanistan's demands. Official sources told Sputnik that the Indian government is not very keen and that any announcement to this effect is most unlikely during the Afghan Army Chief's upcoming visit.
Brigadier V Mahalingam (Retd), a defense & security analyst, says, "India may finance military equipment for Afghanistan as it did in May 2014 for military equipment sourced from Russia. Providing military hardware will, however, have to be based on an assessment of the possibility of this equipment being pilfered by militant sympathizers within the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces or land in their hands."
Last year in December, India had agreed to supply four Mi-24/25 attack helicopters to Afghanistan. Three helicopters have been delivered to Afghanistan but the fourth helicopter is awaiting repair, for which spare parts have to come from Russia. On August 11, Gen John W Nicholson, Commander of the US Forces in Afghanistan, urged India to supply the spare parts to Afghanistan.
"I cannot speak for the Afghan government. But I know that they have requested more and would like more and I think there is an immediate need for more as these aircraft can immediately get into the fight." Analysts say that Russia's role becomes equally important in this equation as spare parts for such helicopters are only available within Russia.
For the last 15 years, India has mainly focused on civil construction and development work in Afghanistan. During this period, India committed more than USD 2 billion for such work.