15th August is the day when India celebrates its Independence Day. On the same day, in 1947, it got completely free from the control of the British Empire as a result of partition of Indian Subcontinent. This day consequently resulted in an India that got its own government, ruled by its own people and made its own constitution. It thus started its slow journey towards a democratic and secular country and today it is considered one of the largest democracies of the world.
India has made some remarkable achievements since its Independence both in political and economic spheres. Apart from being one of the greatest democracies, it is also considered a giant economy in Asia. India’s special emphasis on economic development and growth has enabled it to achieve the current position. And, it has endeavored to follow the same intentions in its regional ties as well. Particularly, in its relations with Afghanistan, India has always pursued economic development, political stability and peace and tranquility.
Afghanistan is one of the countries that have been suffering from the evils of war and instability. It has always required that the international community and the regional countries should support it so that it can stand on its own. However, mostly the other countries have made Afghanistan their battle ground and used it for their own interests. India, on the other hand has always strived to guide its support for Afghanistan’s stability.
People of Afghanistan also consider India as its friend. The public opinion in Afghanistan is highly in support of greater Indian influence in the country, and it is because of the fact that through most part of its relation with Afghanistan, India has been a true friend.
After the overthrow of the Taliban, India established diplomatic relations with the newly established democratic government, provided aid and participated in the reconstruction efforts. India has provided USD 650–750 million in humanitarian and economic aid, which makes it the largest provider of aid to Afghanistan in the region. India’s support and collaboration are mostly in the areas of rebuilding of air links, power plants and investing in health and education sectors as well as helping to train Afghan civil servants, diplomats and police. India has also keen interest in the development of supply lines of electricity, oil and natural gas. And, also providing scholarships to Afghan Students.
The Indian Army’s Border Roads Organisation constructed a major road in 2009 in the remote province of Nimroz, which connected Delaram to Zaranj. This has proved to be a reliable alternative route for the duty-free movement of goods through the Chabahar port in Iran to Afghanistan. One of India’s key strategies in Afghanistan is to build up transportation links that can help Afghan economy’s transportation links.
During Hamid Karzai’s visit to India in April 2006, three memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for strengthening cooperation in the fields of rural development, education and standardisation between the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Afghan National Standardisation Authority were signed between Afghanistan and India. An agreement providing USD 50 million to promote bilateral businesses between Afghanistan and India was also signed during the visit of the Afghan Foreign Minister Dr. Spanta, between 29 June – 1 July in 2006. During the same year, India raised its aid package to Afghanistan from USD150 million to USD 750 million.
During the 15th SAARC summit in Colombo, India pledged another USD 450 million alongside a further USD 750 million already pledged for ongoing and forthcoming projects. In August 2008, former President Hamid Karzai visited New Delhi. This visit further strengthened bilateral relations, and Prime Minister Singh pledged further aid for Afghanistan. India’s pledge to rebuild Afghanistan reached a total of US$2 billion in May 2011 after Manmohan Singh visited Kabul for a two-day visit.
India seeks to expand its economic presence in Afghanistan in the post withdrawal era. In particular, it wants to improve transport connectivity and economic collaboration with countries in Central and South Asia. More such projects are likely to come up, which includes setting up Iron ore mines, a 6 MTPA steel plant (by SAIL—Steel Authority of India Limited), an 800 MW power plant, Hydro-electric power projects, transmission lines, roads etc. In short, India has played a significant role in the reconstruction and rehabilitation process in Afghanistan. India’s extensive developmental assistance programme, which equals around USD 2 billion, is an indicator of its abiding commitment to peace, tranquility and prosperity in Afghanistan during this critical juncture of security and governance transition. This makes India one of the leading donor nations to Afghanistan, and by far the largest among the regional countries.
India seems to believe that development of Afghanistan requires reliable and lasting investment in Afghanistan that can help it exploit its natural resource properly. Therefore, India stands at the forefront of the promotion of investment in Afghanistan and a consortium of public and private Indian companies has been selected to make one of the largest investments in the country’s mining sector, in the Hajigak iron ore reserves.
India also realizes the fact that there can be stability in Afghanistan only if all the major actors and countries have a stake in its stability, development and growth. Realizing this India has been increasing efforts to attract regional and trans-regional investment into Afghanistan that provides a reliable alternative to the dominant narrative of extremism and offers job opportunities to its population, by initiating events like the Delhi Investment Summit on Afghanistan in June 2012. Recognizing that the region holds the key to peace in Afghanistan, India has an important role in confidence building measures in the region in accordance to the Istanbul Process.
It also helped initiate a dialogue on Afghanistan through different platforms like the Afghanistan-India-US trilateral and the Afghanistan-India-Iran trilateral platforms that seek to bring together international partners with disparate worldviews to follow the common goal of securing peace and prosperity in Afghanistan. India also expressed its assistance to international cooperation on Afghanistan at the UN and at various international conferences that are focused on the future of Afghanistan, including the seminal Tokyo Developmental Conference in July 2012.
India’s support for Afghanistan is of immense importance and the people of Afghanistan also realize this fact and they wish that India should keep its assistance continue until it is able to stand on its own.