India’s engagement in Afghanistan
Afghanistan shares socio-cultural and historical commonality with India, but also geographically close and proximate to New Delhi. While Afghanistan looks to India as trustworthy friend in its road to reconstruction, in Afghanistan, India sees a friendly ally in the neighborhood to neutralize Pakistan in the region. Afghanistan is a gateway to energy rich Central Asian states such as Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan which offers India bounties of opportunities in energy front to explore. Further Afghanistan has been the transit route for narcotic and drug trafficking which are used against India can be curbed successfully with a pro-India government in Kabul. India actively participated in the Bonn conference and was instrumental in the emergence of Post-Taliban governing and political authority of Afghanistan. Since then India’s main focus had been to support the Afghan government and the political process in the country as mandated under the Bonn agreement of 2001. India has continued to pursue a policy of high-level engagement with Afghanistan through extensive and wide-ranging humanitarian, financial, and project assistance, as well as participation in international efforts aimed at political reconciliation and economic rebuilding of Afghanistan.
India was also instrumental to make the move of Afghanistan as a member of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC).With the hope that entry of Afghanistan into the SAARC would help in issues relating to the transit and free flow of goods across borders in the region thereby leading to the greater economic development of Afghanistan. Moreover, South Asia will be able to reach out to Central and West Asia more meaning-fully with Afghanistan as a member of the SAARC. It has been estimated that given Afghanistan’s low trade linkages with other states in the region, its participation in the South Asian Free Trade Area-SAFTA agreement would result in trade gains of $2 billion to the region with as much as $606 million accruing to Afghanistan. The strategic partnership agreement signed between the two sides provides assistance to help rebuild Afghanistan’s infrastructure and institutions,education,health,transportation,power,telecommunication and technical assistance to re-build Afghan capacity in different areas, encouraging investment in Afghanistan’s natural resources, providing duty free access to the Indian market for Afghan’s export products, 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. India has played a vital role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
India’s extensive developmental assistance programme, which now stands at around $2 billion, is a strong signal of its abiding commitments to peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan during the critical period of security and governance transition. This makes India of the leading donor nations to Afghanistan, and by far the largest from among the regional countries. There is no question about India’s commitment towards reconstruction of Afghanistan. Pakistan has been significantly shaken by the rising Indian presence in Afghanistan, the country over which Islamabad seeks complete control in the 2014 US drawdown. Pakistan’s India phobia was furthered by regular attacks on Indian embassy in Kabul. Pakistan has always sought to limit India’s activities in Afghanistan and for this purpose has used a number of instruments. There is a valid reason for concluding the involvement of Pakistani state actors on Indian interests in Afghanistan, including Indian embassy. Pakistan cannot tolerate India’s good relations and influence in Afghanistan. Through such attacks, it is trying to push India back, not only from Afghanistan but it also wants India to have less influence in Central Asia. It is significant that the change of regime in Islamabad has no bearing on the role of ISI and the various terrorist proxies t supports. India’s expectation of cooperation from Pakistan in Afghan affairs seems far from reality. India must choose its own independent ways and means to deal with Afghan issues taking full view of her national interests.
India has always regarded political upheavals in Afghanistan as its internal affairs and it has worked along with other international actors and the UN in the reconstruction process. But the question now arises as the US is set to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in 2014 and ISAF’s extended deadline is coming to an end what sort of equation will emerge in Afghanistan. It is also not clear what kind of leadership arrangement will take place after Karzai. In Afghanistan, there will be again Presidential elections. The resurgence of Taliban can not be taken out as well. Given Pakistan’s meddling in internal affairs of Afghanistan, it may help Taliban in future course to neutralize Indian role in Afghanistan. The current debate in India on Afghanistan varies from working towards an internationally neutral Afghanistan. There is a perception that India’s cautious approach may not suffice given the magnitude of long-term ideological and tangible security challenges likely to emerge from the Af-Pak region after the withdrawal of western forces and given the Pakistani Taliban policy.
Afghanistan is crucial to South Asia’s peace and security. At the same time, policymakers in India, as elsewhere, are concerned about Afghanistan’s trajectory from 2014,when western forces are reduced and elections are held. While both India and China have won tenders for mining operations in Afghanistan, they have been slower to develop them. But India will have a range of imponderables to consider. India’s recent decision to renovate Chabahar port in Iran can been seen as a demonstration of its long-term commitment to Afghanistan.
Anil Kumar Upadhyaya
New Delhi, 29/12/12014
