INDIA - AFGHANISTAN RELATIONS "EMPOWER IAS"

In news:

• India has announced the launch of Phase-IV of the High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan. It envisages more than 100 projects worth 80 million dollars that India would undertake in Afghanistan.

 

 

About:

• External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said this during the 2020 Afghanistan Conference organized in Geneva. The two day conference was co-hosted by the United Nations, the Government of Afghanistan, and the Government of Finland.
• Dr Jaishankar also announced that India had just concluded with Afghanistan an agreement for the construction of the Shatoot dam, which would provide safe drinking water to two million residents of Kabul city.
   
• India had earlier built the 202-kilometer Phul-e-Khumri transmission line that provided electricity to Kabul city.

 

India’s Interest in Afghanistan

 

 

 

• Economic and Strategic Interest: Afghanistan is a gateway to the oil and mineral-rich Central Asian republics.
  • Afghanistan's main advantage is its geography, as anyone who is in power in Afghanistan controls the land routes connecting India with Central Asia (via Afghanistan).
• Developmental Projects: The massive reconstruction plans for the country to offer a lot of opportunities for Indian companies.
  • Three major projects: the Afghan Parliament, the Zaranj-Delaram Highway, and the Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam (Salma Dam), along with India’s assistance of more than $3 billion in projects, hundreds of small development projects (of schools, hospitals and water projects) have cemented India’s position in Afghanistan.
• Security Interest: India has been the victim of state-sponsored terrorism emanating from Pakistan supported terrorist group operating in the region (e,g. Haqqani network). Thus, India has two priorities in Afghanistan:
   
  • to prevent Pakistan from setting up a friendly government in Afghanistan, and
  • to avoid the return of jihadi groups, like al Qaeda, which could strike in India.