Possibilities amidst flux in South Asia:
Context
- The new South Asia policy of US towards Pakistan might be more apparent than real
Indo-Afghanistan Cooperation:
Areas of Cooperation:
Economic Cooperation:
- India is the second largest destination for Afghanistan exports.
- Afghanistan possess many minerals like gold, iron, copper etc. Indian companies have invested in its mining sector
- More than 100 companies have invested in various sectors of its economy including agriculture, communications, Information Technology etc.
- The proposed TAPI (stands for Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan and India) pipeline passes through Afghanistan. It is for importing Natural Gas from Turkmenistan to India.
- India, Iran and Afghanistan have jointly signed a trade deal. The deal aims at investment in Chabahar port for accessing landlocked Afghanistan by circumventing Pakistan.
India’s Development Programs in Afghanistan:
- India continues to assist Afghanistan in its reconstruction program by providing a bilateral assistance of 2 Billion USD. India has also completed many infrastructure projects in Afghanistan. Some notable examples are
- Salma Dam in Herat Province
- Parliament Building in Kabul
- Road project in Nimroz Province
- A power project near Kabul
- India also has established hospitals and runs midday meal schemes for Afghan school children
Defence Cooperation:
- India has contributed to the Afghan defence forces in the following ways
- India provides training to Afghanistan military officers in Indian military academies
- In 2014 India signed an agreement with Afghanistan and Russia. According to this agreement Russia will provide all military equipments needed by Afghanistan and India will pay for it
- India has directly provided three Russian-made Mi-25 attack helicopters to Afghan Air Force in 2015
Cooperation through Conferences:
- India and Afghanistan work cooperatively in various associations.
Terrorism:
- India wants a democratic and peaceful Afghanistan for stability in its relations. But the country faces terror threats in the following ways
- Afghani Taliban is a major terrorist group. They are attempting to take over the democratically elected Government in Afghanistan
- Al Qaeda and many other terrorist groups like Haqqani Network etc. are very active in Afghanistan
- The recent rise of Islamic State terrorists may have spillover effects on India in future
- All these terror groups are involved in deadly attacks in Afghanistan. These factors concerns India because the terror in Afghanistan has the following implications
Regional security is threatened
- It can affect the good relations between India and Afghanistan.
- Internal security of India can be threatened as there is link between these Afghan terror networks and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir
The Role of Pakistan
- Pakistan has always attempted to thwart the good relationship between India and Afghanistan. Pakistan also attempts to derail peace in Afghanistan in the following ways
- Pakistan has supported many Afghan terrorists by providing funding and refuge especially the Taliban and Haqqani Network
- Pakistan has been known to meddle in the internal affairs of Afghanistan
Way forward
- Delhi must find ways to effectively intervene in the limited but inviting strategic space that is opening up between America, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- India’s renewed economic assistance to Afghanistan constitutes one set of tools. Expanded military assistance is another.
