NEW DELHI -- Last month, suicide bombers attacked hotels and guesthouses in Kabul, killing 18 people and injuring 35 more, with most of the victims Indians.
India immediately rushed National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon to the Afghan capital for a first-hand assessment of security arrangements for the roughly 4,000 Indians working on various aid and development projects in Afghanistan.
The bombing is the latest in a string of attacks, the most high-profile of which remains the July 2008 bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, which left 58 people dead. As a result, India has strengthened its Afghan policy to add short-term counterterrorism measures to its political strategy of supporting Afghan institutions, though it continues to rule out any military intervention. Without scaling down its civilian presence, New Delhi is beefing up protection of its nationals through enhanced deployment of security personnel at key installations manned by Indians.