Possibilities amidst flux in South Asia: 

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.