The daily Nawa-i-Waqt yesterday in a report revealed that President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are going to sign an agreement in Washington next month to make India part of Nato in Afghanistan to play its part in the war against militancy. The report adds that the agreement is currently being given its final touches. Apart from that, Indias position as trainer of the Afghan armed forces personnel would have the official seal of Washington. Besides, the two countries, joined by Israel, would be conducting military exercises in Rajasthan, which would start on December 30. These developments will cause fresh alarm, given Pakistan's historic suspicion of its neighbour to its East and that neighbours plans to place it in a pincer by establishing a dominant role in Afghanistan. While Pakistan's involvement in the War on Terror in the US coalition continues, fresh fears will be raised of Afghanistan being modelled into a hostile neighbour under Indian influence, given this development. The Indians are hardly likely to encourage Afghans to feel friendly towards us. Advocates of this approach would have us believe, as Musharraf tried, that we should establish diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv, in the false hope that that would lessen its hostility towards us. In this move, Pakistan will justifiably sense a plan to put pressure on it from the east as well as the west to ensure that it does not balk at demands made of it in the context of its strategic designs in the region. And India, with its age-old hostility towards Pakistan and growing economic and military might, has come in handy to serve as a counterweight to China to contain its fast-spreading influence. In return, Washington is pampering it with undue favours, the most prominent being the so-called civilian nuclear accord under which it would make available to India state-of-the-art equipment and know-how, ostensibly to meet its energy needs. Even if this were true, Pakistan's own energy needs deserve such an accord more than the Indians; the Indians who have made not a thousandth of the sacrifices Pakistan has in the War Against Terror. Against this background, it is difficult not to conclude that the Obama administration has decided to assign New Delhi a dominant role in the Afghan affairs, after it has withdrawn its troops from the country. Quite obviously, it would be at the cost of Pakistan, even though US officials, think tanks and the media keep acknowledging that Pakistans involvement in the restoration of peaceful conditions in Afghanistan and stability of the region is vital. The emerging scenario should be ringing alarm bells in Islamabad, cautioning it against the role of foreign intelligence agencies disturbing the peace in Balochistan. Pakistan is caught in a tricky situation, being buffeted by hostile winds. Yet, it is no small country. The vast human and natural resources and intensely patriotic 180 million people could do wonders. It appears we will have fewer friends to rely on and must look within to build ourself into a fortress of strength to combat challenges we are now seeing are imminent in future.