US representative for Afghanistan meets NSA Ajit Doval

Next week’s meeting of the quadrilateral, made up of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States, comes among growing pessimism that Islamabad will deliver on long-standing promises to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table — the keystone of the international community’s efforts to end the conflict.

Faced with Taliban’s rejection of negotiations, and an offensive that has claimed swathes of territory, Afghanistan has been calling on regional states, including India, to step up supplies of military aid. India has so far supplied four Mi-35 assault helicopters, as well as three light helicopters, but Afghanistan hopes for AN-32 medium tactical transport aircraft, along with artillery and logistics equipment.

“The casualties the Afghan military has suffered are staggering…By way of comparison, it is as if a corps and a half in Jammu and Kashmir, out of the three corps India has there, had suffered these kinds of losses”, said Lieutenant-General RK Sawhney, an analyst at Vivekananda International Foundation.

“It is remarkable that the Afghan army has continued to fight…but it will need long-term assistance from neighbours like India, who will also suffer serious consequences if the country collapses,” he added.

The US military presence in Afghanistan is scheduled to fall from 9,800 at present to 5,500 by the start of 2017 — further eroding the training of troops.