NEW DELHI - India and China are likely to identify projects in areas of health, education and food security that the two countries can jointly undertake in Afghanistan, following discussions between Prime Minister NarendraModi and President Xi Jinping at the recent Wuhan Summit.
The two sides may soon hold a standalone dialogue for identifying projects in Afghanistan, people aware of the matter told ET. They said the plan is to identify projects that would improve lives of Afghan citizens and pave the way for a joint Indo-Afghan connectivity project through Afghanistan connecting China with Iran in the future.
However, the proposed connectivity project is unlikely to be included in China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) owing to India’s strong reservations against the mega project that seeks to connect Asia’s biggest country with the rest of the continent, Africa and Europe.
Afghans require support in health, education and food security as they are fighting both Taliban and the Islamic State. India has been providing support to Afghanistan in healthcare and education for several years. Since last year the country has been supplying wheat to Afghanistan through Iran’s Chabahar Port.
ndia and China could look at a Sino-Indian connectivity project through Afghanistan after the two sides kick-start development projects, said one of the persons cited earlier.
The two countries have twice held bilateral dialogue on the Afghan situation and both are also part of several multilateral fora on Afghanistan. In 2010, India and China had agreed to launch a joint project in Afghanistan, but there was no forward movement.  (Agencies)