Sentence:  Lalvani does not undervalue the achievements of the Mughal Empire, but its canals and irrigation tanks and roads had fallen into decay after the terrible Persian and Afghan invasions of the mid-18th century. For his part, Tharoor cannot <WSD>forbear</WSD> to praise the achievements of men like Arthur Cotton, whose Godavari Delta irrigation scheme remains much as he left it in 1852. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To keep away from; to avoid; to abstain from.