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India, Pakistan, Fighting 'Proxy Cold War' in Afghanistan

Monday's suicide bombing in the Afghan capital Kabul was the deadliest since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban. German commentators fear it could fan regional tensions between Pakistan and India, which are fighting a kind of proxy Cold War in Afghanistan.

The suicide car bomb at the gates of the Indian Embassy in Kabul on Monday left 41 people dead and wounded more than 130, and has heightened Afghan and Western concerns about the country's deteriorating security situation.

Afghan officials voiced thinly veiled suspicions that the bombing had been carried out with the help of Pakistani operatives to pursue Islamabad's power struggle with India. Afghanistan often accuses Pakistani intelligence of supporting the Taliban insurgency, a charge denied by Islamabad.

Indian authorities stopped short of voicing such suspicions on Monday and pledged to investigate what the Indian Foreign Ministry called "this cowardly terrorist attack."

German media commentators write that Afghanistan has become the scene of a proxy war between its neighbors India and Pakistan, and that the growing divisions are thwarting the fight against the Taliban and terrorism.

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"The murder is senseless but the target was chosen with forethought. India isn't just a major friend of the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai, and India isn't only a generous sponsor of the country's reconstruction. Above all, India is the arch-enemy of Pakistan in the dispute over Kashmir. This attack is a particularly bad omen for Afghanistan."

"Now, in the seventh year of the war on terror, the blood trails of terrorism are crossing each other in Afghanistan of all places. It's about Kabul and Kashmir, and is directed against the West and against India. And, to complete the chaos, the target is also Pakistan's secular government. The day before the Kabul attack there was one in Pakistan's capital Islamabad which followed the same pattern. The extremists apparently feel safe enough to strike from several sides. To stop them the West, the Afghan and Pakistani governments must work together. But the violence isn't leading to more unity, only to more division."

The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"India and Pakistan are waging a cold proxy war against each other in Afghanistan. Pakistan has been eyeing India's involvement in Afghanistan with suspicion for a long time."

"India's good relations with the Afghan government have sparked Pakistani fears of being surrounded. Contacts between Kabul and Islamabad are anything but warm: Recently Karzai threatened to pursue the Taliban beyond the border with Pakistan if Islamabad doesn't take up the chase. Before that the Afghan government accused Pakistan's secret service ISI of being behind the attack on the military parade at the end of April which was aimed at assassinating Karzai.

"Pakistan meanwhile accuses India of using diplomatic offices in Afghanistan for secret service operations targeting Pakistan.".

Mass-circulation Bild writes:

"Will the battle against terrorism in Afghanistan soon become as dangerous as the war in Iraq?"

"The mission for the 3,500 German troops stationed in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly dangerous."

David Crossland, 1.30 p.m. CET