Kabul Attack

The attack on hotels in Kabul targeting Indians is another in the series of desperate acts by jehadi networks in Pakistan. But I don't think they are doing this to 'scare' Indians away from Afghanistan, or simply to provoke India so it complicates matters for Pakistan, as Stratfor has apparently thought up:

Kabul attack might be to 'provoke' India

I think the aim is to somehow have India to get involved militarily in Afghanistan. That will give the aQ's more India-focussed arms just the trigger they need to initiate the 'ghazwa-e-Hind' terror mayhem in India which Ilyas Kashmiri talked about in his very strange interview to Saleem Shehzad of Asia Times Online:

Al-Qaeda's guerilla chief lays out strategy

aQ (and the jehadi network leading all the way into Pakistan Army, 'rogue' or not, its your call) perhaps believe that a spectacular series of attacks that would leave India humiliated would polarize Pakistanis in their favour and lead them to their long term goal of capturing power there. But they need a trigger - they are not able to justify all-India attacks solely on the basis of Kashmir.

India must tread carefully - we should not give them any such chance at a time when we are not at all confident we have plugged all our internal security loopholes and nor do we have much covert action capability:

Hit but stealthiliy

At best we have to increase physical security to the staffers of India's humanitarian effort in Afghanistan, wherever they stay, within the embassies or otherwise. And request the Afghan Govt to punish the culprits as much as possible.