THEINDIAN arms deals with Russia and Israel to the tune of $2.7 billion should be completely unacceptable, as it would fuel a new arms race in the region that would, among other fallouts, divert resources from poverty alleviation and development. It is hard to buy the Indian argument that the weapons are meant to counter its Naxalite insurgency, given its paranoia of Pakistan and how in the past, it has been using foreign military aid and weaponry exclusively against us. Secondly, the point is that it certainly does not need weapons worth $2.7 billion merely to counter some insurgent groups. It stands to reason, that it must be a states army, definitely Pakistan, which New Delhi would have in mind while greedily arming itself with such a huge quantity of weapons. Besides, there should be little doubt that India is out to create trouble in the region, a factor that explains why it is senselessly spending its resources to boost its military capability. It is getting these weapons because of its new military doctrine to make a pincer movement on Pakistan by attempting to sandwich it between Afghanistan and itself. It has in Afghanistan effectively made inroads into the Afghan National Army and also the Karzai Administration to such an extent that it now enjoys and exerts strong influence in the decision-making process apparently under the watchful eye of the USA. Primarily, the Indo-US nexus sharing the common goal of destabilising Pakistan and secondly, the USA thinking that India would be able to hold the fort once it leaves Afghanistan, are the main factors muddying the waters. Recently, a senior US official has vaunted the role New Delhi is currently playing in Afghanistan, which is also an indirect admission of the carte blanche it has given its ally to create unrest in Pakistan. But clearly, the USA is backing the wrong horse, especially keeping in view Afghan-Pakistan deep cultural ties and geographical proximity. Once the USA withdraws troops, the Indian diplomatic and security edifice in Afghanistan would collapse like a mud fort in the monsoon. Pakistan, on the other hand, has expressed its willingness to train the Afghan Army and help in reconstruction of the war-torn country. This is quite contrary to the Indian design of using Afghanistan merely as a launching pad to extend its hegemony in the region, especially in putting Pakistan between a rock and hard place. New Delhi has once again shown that it would go to any lengths to achieve military superiority over Pakistan. A pariah entity, as it has time and again turned out to be, its destructive tendency of unchecked armament bodes ill for South Asias peace and stability.