Former Ambassador Bharath Raj Muthu Kumar is right in cautioning India not to fall into the trap of the U.S. by placing our troops in Afghanistan (Front page, “How India armed the Northern Alliance,” Sept. 1). Already, the splinter war groups in Afghanistan that were engaged in fighting Russian forces in the 1980s have turned into mercenaries and are fighting Indian troops in Kashmir. Further, the Islamic State, whose ‘caliphate’ has crumbled, seems to have developed a presence there. Any deployment of troops in Afghanistan is bound to provoke these forces further. Securing our own country and cleansing troubled regions of militants should be the priority rather than deploying forces in a foreign land like Afghanistan.
A.G. Rajmohan,
Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh
