Afghan Defence Minister Abdur Rahim Vardak, after meeting his Indian counterpart A.K. Anthony on Wednesday, during his current visit to New Delhi, said that Afghanistan would welcome any cooperation with India in the training of its security forces. Vardak is part of the Karzai government, which is American-backed and based on the Northern Alliance, which is Tajik, and ignores the Pashtun majority beyond having President Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun, at its head. His proposal for training by India while having American support lacks the support of its majority. It is both unfortunate and unrealistic for the Karzai government and the USA to encourage Indias regional ambitions by giving it an evanescent importance in Afghanistan. They give themselves false hopes that the USA will be able to depend on India stabilising Afghanistan. The USA intends to leave Afghanistan under Indian tutelage when it withdraws, but it should realise that Indian influence in Afghanistan, including any training programmes it might have, will be immediately swept away along with the Karzai regime. At the same time, if indeed the Karzai government wishes to see a continued Indian role, it will do well to persuade India onto a path of good neighbourliness with Pakistan. Afghanistan should pay heed to American scholar and area expert Stephen Cohen, who believes the Kashmir freedom struggle could last 100 years or even more. The world cannot for long ignore the reality of the freedom struggle of the Kashmiri people. It should persuade India to allow the people of Kashmir to exercise the right of self-determination through a UN-supervised plebiscite, as conceded by India itself in the UNs resolutions on the subject. Pakistan must include the Indian factor in its preparations for the impending American withdrawal from Afghanistan. It will have to watch out for Indian gnashing and wailing when it is thrown out after the collapse of the Karzai regime. Pakistan must also realise that the Afghan armed forces it will have to then deal with will be Indian-trained. The best way out would be for India to stay out of a country in which it has no role except one imposed by an outside power. Paradoxically, the best way for India to expand its regional footprint would be by limiting itself, and not rushing in 'where angels fear to tread, Its presence in Afghanistan is only fomenting trouble in Balochistan and FATA through its consulates there.