NEW YORK - The top American General in charge of the war against the Taliban and other militants in Afghanistan has warned that Indias increasing influence in the war-torn country 'is likely to exacerbate regional tensions. In his 'Commanders Initial Assessment on the Afghan war, General Stanley McChrystal said the situation there is 'serious and 'deteriorating. Indian political and economic influence is increasing in Afghanistan, including significant development efforts and financial investment, the General said. In addition, the current Afghan government is perceived by Islamabad to be pro-Indian, the McChrystal report notes, but it adds: While Indian activities largely benefit the Afghan people, increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate regional tensions and encourage Pakistani countermeasures in Afghanistan or India. In its section on Pakistan, the report insists that insurgent and violent extremist groups based in that country 'are reportedly aided by some elements of Pakistans secret agency. The report zeroes in on Al-Qaedas links to the Haqqani network (HQN) inside Pakistan and says 'expanded HQN control could create a favourable environment for AQAM to re-establish safe havens in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the US and NATO troops commander in Afghanistan said in a confidential report that he needs more troops within a year or the conflict would likely to end in failure. General Stanley McChrystals assessment, obtained by The Washington Post, was sent to Defence Secretary Robert Gates in August and is being reviewed by President Barack Obama and his security team. Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) - while Afghan security capacity matures - risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible, McChrystal said. The General warned that defeat was likely in the eight-year conflict without more troops and quick implementation of a counterinsurgency strategy, the Post said. The call for more troops is based on adopting a strategy that stresses protecting Afghan citizens over killing insurgents or controlling territory, he said. (Inadequate) resources will likely to result in failure. However, without a new strategy, the mission should not be resourced, McChrystal wrote. He said the Afghan government was as much a threat to the International Security Assistance Force - as the US-led NATO coalition is known - as the insurgency. The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials and ISAFs own errors have given Afghans little reason to support their government, McChrystal says. McChrystal, who took over command on June 15 this year, said ISAFs main weakness is that it isnt aggressively defending the Afghan population. Pre-occupied with protection of our own forces, we have operated in a manner that distances us - physically and psychologically - from the people we seek to protect, McChrystal wrote. The insurgents cannot defeat us militarily; but we can defeat ourselves. However, McChrystal ended the documents Commanders Summary optimistically: While the situation is serious, success is still achievable.