A K Antony on Indo-Afghan ties

In a veiled reference to Pakistan, India on Monday accused "vested interests" for scuttling New Delhi's role in rebuilding war-ravaged Afghanistan.

Expressing concern over the resurgence of Taliban in Afghanistan, Defence Minister A K Antony said, "Certain vested interests are trying to scuttle our role in rebuilding Afghanistan. We are committed to support this process and help Afghanistan emerge as a stable, democratic state," the defence minister said.

India has already dispatched a fresh batch of commandos to Afghanistan from the Indian Tibetan Border Police to protect the Indian projects, he said.

Antony delved on the security scenario in the immediate neighbourhood and beyond.

"The most crucial challenge facing is in the near future is growing instability in our neighbourhood."

He said the rising tide of religious fundamentalism and cross-border terrorism continued unabated and that this had affected the regional security environment.

The conference has been called to draw a roadmap for the transformation of the forces to meet the varied security challenges.

"The transformation plan must be developed to achieve highest efficacy," he said while expressing confidence that the plan was not only efficient and cost effective but also keeping in pace with the changing times.