2) Introduction 

India and Afghanistan have a strong relationship based on historical and cultural links. The  relationship has its foundations in the historical contacts and exchanges between the people. In  recent past, India-Afghanistan relations have been further strengthened by the Strategic  Partnership Agreement, which was signed between the two countries in October 2011. 

The Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the two sides, provides for assistance to  help rebuild Afghanistan’s infrastructure and institutions, education and technical assistance to  re-build indigenous Afghan capacity in different areas, encouraging investment in Afghanistan’s  natural resources, providing duty free access to the Indian market for Afghanistan’s exports  support for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, broad-based and inclusive process of peace and  reconciliation, and advocating the need for a sustained and long-term commitment to  Afghanistan by the international community. 

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3) Highlights 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Herat on 4 June 2016 in western Afghanistan where he,  along with President of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan H.E Asharaf Ghani jointly inaugurated  the Afghan-India Friendship Dam, earlier known as Salma Dam. The completion of the dam  project represents culmination of years of hard work by about 1,500 Indian and Afghan  engineers and other professionals in very difficult conditions. It also highlights India’s continued  commitment to Afghanistan’s reconstruction and development. 

Prime Minister on 22 August 2016 jointly inaugurated through video conferencing, the restored  Stor Palace in Kabul with President Ghani. During his his address at the inauguration Prime  Minister reiterated India’s commitment that the 1.25 billion Indian people will “always” stand  with Afghanistan in ensuring peace and prosperity.

4) PILLARS OF BILATERAL PARTNERSHIP  

4.1) Cultural Relations 

Given the extensive cultural linkage between India and Afghanistan, there is considerable  interest in cultural exchange events on both sides. There have been several exchanges of artistes  and music troupes over the past few years. Major such events include an “India-Afghanistan  Culture Week” held in New Delhi in November 2017 in collaboration with India-Afghanistan  Foundation (IAF) and ICCR; visit of a cultural troupe headed by Smt. Kumud Diwan to Kabul in  September 2017; visit of ‘Awayee Band-e-Amir’ – a folk musical troupe from Bamiyan  Province of Afghanistan for the 5th International Folk Music and Dance Festival organised by  ICCR at New Delhi in December 2018; visit of a three-member Instrumental ‘Sarod’ group led  by Shri Avijit Ghosh in October 2019. 

the two Governments came together to establish an India- Afghanistan Foundation (IAF) in  2007. IAF is a trust fund which finances projects aimed at fostering India-Afghanistan relations  through enhancement of economic, scientific, educational, technical as well as cultural  cooperation. The management and direction of the Foundation are vested in a Board of Directors  consisting of 10 members. Ambassador of India to Afghanistan in Kabul and Ambassador of  Afghanistan to India in New Delhi are the Co-Chairpersons of the Board. The other eight  members are nominated by the two Governments. The 12th Board Meeting of the India  Afghanistan Foundation was held in August 2019 at the Kabul Chapter. The Board reviewed the  working of the Foundation and looked into new proposals form both the Chapters. 

4.2) High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP)

Since 2005, India and Afghanistan have partnered in the area of community development  through the HICDP program. Under this scheme, US$ 120 mn has been committed till date to  various small to medium scale projects in areas such as education, health, water management,  government buildings, sport facilities, agriculture and irrigation, etc. Around 433 High Impact  Community Development Projects have been completed with Indian financial support in all 34  provinces of Afghanistan so far and around 110 projects are ongoing in various provinces of  Afghanistan. On 05 July 2020, India signed five (05) agreements for construction of schools and  roads worth US$ 2.6 mn. 

During FY 2019-20, 37 projects were completed in various provinces of Afghanistan under the  High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) scheme of Government of India. An  MoU for financial commitment of US$ 80 mn towards HICDP Phase- IV is currently under  negotiation by both sides. This would take total commitment of Indian Government to HICDP to  US$ 200 mn. 

4.3) Trade and Other Areas 

To combat the global pandemic of COVID-19 and related issues of food security, India is  commited to deliver 75,000 MT of Wheat to Afghanistan in 2020. In addition, India has also  undertaken supply of 5 lakh tablets of Hydroxy-chloroquinine, 1 Lakh tablets of Paracetamol and  50,000 pairs of surgical gloves to Government of Afghanistan in 2020. 

Provision of food assistance of 11 lakh tonnes of wheat, both as grains and biscuits, was  distributed to approximately 1.5 million school children 

To promote food security, particularly children during the times of drought, India has distributed  2000 tonnes of pulses to Afghanistan in 2018. 

A Medical Diagnostic Centre in Kabul was set up in 2015. The Centre provides latest diagnostic  facilities to children of Afghanistan thereby generating goodwill for India. 

Presently, there are estimated to be about 1710 Indians in the country. Most of the Indians in  Afghanistan are engaged as professionals in Banks, IT firms, construction companies, hospitals,  NGOs, telecom companies, security companies, universities, Govt. of India sponsored projects,  Govt. of Afghanistan and UN Missions. The Mission interacts closely with members of the  Indian Diaspora, assisting wherever required. 

5) Commercial Relations between India and Afghanistan: 

Given the geographical proximity and historical linkages, India has been a natural trading partner  for Afghanistan and is the largest market in South Asia for its products. The total bilateral trade  between India and Afghanistan for CY 2019-20 was at US$ 1.5 billion.  

While there is immense potential to expand bilateral trade, the difficulties in transit via Pakistan  was a major hurdle in expanding the trade ties. In order to expand trade to India, the Afghan  government in collaboration with Government of India launched a dedicated Air Freight  Corridor on 19 June 2017. 

Since its inauguration in 2017, India-Afghanistan Air-Freight Corridor has witnessed close to a  1000 flights, carrying goods valued at over USD 216 million. This has provided a boost to  Afghan exports to India and has directly benefited Afghan farmers and small traders and  exporters. 

India and Afghanistan now aim to expand the Corridor to other cities in both the countries. Another important initiatative which strengthened bilateral trade was the operationalization of  the Chabahar Port in December 2017, followed by commercial agreement to manage port  operations in February 2018. The Port has so far handled over 5,000 containers ferrying over  110,000 tons of wheat and over 2,000 tons of pulses sent by India as assistance to Afghanistan  via Chabahar. These were delivered to various parts of Afghanistan and average transportation  time (excluding processing time) involved was less than 2 weeks. In 2019, Afghanistan shipped  around 700 tons of agricultural and mineral products to India through the Chabahar Port, clearly  demonstrating the feasibility of Chabahar Port as a transit point for Afghanistan and eventually  to Central Asia. 

6) Current Situation 

Recent political disruption in Afghanistan has affected surrounding countries in unexpected  ways. This includes India, which has a significant volume of investment in the country and has  been building a flourishing trade relationship with Afghanistan in recent decades. 

India holds more than three billion dollars of investment in Afghanistan, and the countries’  bilateral trade amounts to around $1.5 billion. In addition, a large volume of trade from India  intended for Commonwealth of Independent States nations in Central Asia is transited through  Afghanistan, and India is among Afghanistan’s top donors of foreign aid grants. 

Afghanistan holds a crucial position in India’s network of trade and diplomatic relationships, but  the strong ties between these two nations has been threatened by the uprooting of democratic  government and the establishment of the Taliban regime in the war-ravaged country. 

Taliban has announced its plan to continue trade and diplomatic ties with India, given the current  situation it is difficult to imagine how India can maintain the economic ties it built with post 2001 Afghanistan. Changes in foreign policy would certainly affect trade relations, but at this  stage, India needs to step up and make its stance on the Taliban government clear to introduce  some certainty for Indian companies and investments. 

It is unclear if the Taliban is genuinely unlikely to disrupt Afghanistan’s ongoing friendly ties  with India, and if it is willing and able to protect Indian investments and other important  development and reconstruction works. Ultimately though, with so much at stake, India needs a  clear economic stance on investment in Afghanistan now that the Taliban has come to power.

7) Suggestions for Indian Government to handle Afghanistan diplomacy: 

The Indian Government shall not pour water on its diligent efforts of decades by breaking the connection from Afghanistan instead they shall consistently captivate the Taliban even against the popular sentiment of the Indian establishment. Keeping Taliban engrossed will help India to continue supporting the Afghan populace in general which is in practice a hostage under Taliban dictate. Moreover, in place of cash equivalent, India could aid Afghanistan in terms of medicines, food, warm clothes, blankets which cannot be used militarily or sold for cash and can only be used for welfare of the oppressed population and on all such occasions shall raise and continuously remind Taliban leadership their past pledges and their duty towards afghan population, including minorities and women. As the group has made a word to be more reasonable and careful regarding women’s rights and its protection, the Indian government should also be meticulous about their actions in this regard.

References: 

https://eoi.gov.in/kabul/?0354?000 

https://www.policyforum.net/how-the-taliban-is-affecting-indias-trade-with-afghanistan/  

https://www.indiatoday.in/news-analysis/story/40-years-of-ups-and-downs-in-india-s-afghan policy-1845809-2021-08-26

Written by Dr. Ashish Gupta