Indian PM to renew old bonds on rare Afghan trip

NEW DELHI, Sunday (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh begins a rare visit to Afghanistan on Sunday, the first by an Indian premier in nearly 30 years, as New Delhi steps up efforts to deepen historic links hit by years of conflict.

The two-day visit is aimed at reaffirming New Delhi's strong commitment to help rebuild the war-torn nation and wrest back influence over the central Asian country which India lost to rival Pakistan during the 1990s.

India is among Afghanistan's top donor nations - it has pledged aid of about $500 million so far - and holds sway over Northern Alliance groups that helped U.S.-led forces overthrow the Taliban regime.

"Afghanistan is an extremely important country for India," Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said ahead of the visit. "We want Afghanistan to emerge as a democratic, independent, sovereign country fully in mastery of its own destiny."

"We believe that the relationship with India would contribute to that end," he said.

Saran said Singh would announce new aid of about $50 million during his visit and launch projects to help local communities, moving forward from India's involvement so far in mostly infrastructure building.

India is involved in training Afghan armed forces, police and diplomats, building roads, schools, hospitals and power lines, digging wells and supporting trade and services as Afghanistan makes slow progress in recover from two decades of conflict.

Singh is scheduled to hold talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. He is also due to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for a new Afghan parliament building, being built with Indian assistance.

Pakistan, the Taliban's main backer until Islamabad sided with Washington after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has been uneasy about increased Indian influence in Afghanistan since.

Islamabad has refused overland transit for Indian goods bound for Afghanistan and further on to Central Asia, hampering trade. This has forced India to route trade by sea via Iran.

India has also been disturbed by rising violence on the Afghan-Pakistan border as Taliban insurgents and their Islamist militant allies step up attacks in the run-up to next month's parliamentary elections in Afghanistan.

Saran said New Delhi was keen that Afghanistan did not slide back into being a centre for extremism and could help further strengthen the capability of Afghan security forces.

Analysts said the success of India's efforts to recoup influence it lost in Afghanistan would depend on the character the Afghan state takes in the coming years.

"If Afghanistan goes back to moderation then we have a strong opportunity," said Sukh Deo Muni, who teaches international relations at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.

"But if it slides back to extremism, India will have very little room there."