India's Infrastructural Endowment in Afghanistan


India's Infrastructural Endowment in Afghanistan

India and Afghanistan have persisted friendly and trustworthy relationship over the decades. Both had been historical next-door neighbours and shared cultural ties through Bollywood and cricket. The Republic of India was the only South Asian country to appreciate the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in the 1980s. However, the relations were depreciated during the 1990s Afghan civil war and the Taliban government. India assisted the overthrow of the Taliban and became the most prominent regional provider of humanitarian and reconstruction aid to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Multiple kingdoms ruled over present-day Afghanistan between the 8th century BCE and the 10th century A.D. Such as the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, Indo-Greek Kingdom, Mauryan Empire, Indo-Scythians, Huns, and at last, the Kabul Shahis were made up of disciples of Greek polytheism, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism-Hinduism. From the 10th century to the mid 18th century, northern India has been invaded by several invaders based in what today is Afghanistan. Among them were the Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Khaljis, Suris, Mughals and Durranis.

In January 1950, a five-year Treaty of Friendship was initiated between the two countries in New Delhi. Besides declaring everlasting peace and friendship among the two Governments, the treaty established polite and consular posts in each other's territories. India noticed the new Republic of Afghanistan on July 19, 1973. Indian foreign minister Swaran Singh visited Afghan President Mohammed Daoud Khan, and Khan visited India in March 1975. On July 7, 1974, the two countries signed a trade protocol.

India is one of the most significant regional contributors to Afghanistan and the fifth largest contributor globally, with over $3 billion in support. India has developed over 200 public and private schools, sponsors over 1,000 scholarships, hosts over 16,000 Afghan students." Relationships between Afghanistan and India received a significant boost in 2011 with signing a strategic partnership agreement, Afghanistan's first since the Soviet invasion of 1979.

What is India’s contribution?

The 2011 India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement recommitted Indian support to rebuild further Afghanistan’s infrastructure, institutions, education, and technical assistance for capacity-building in many areas, encourage investment in Afghanistan and provide duty-free access to the Indian market. Bilateral trade is now worth $1 billion.

PARLIAMENT

The National Assembly is located in the southwestern section of Kabul, where many important national institutions are found. India built the new Afghan Parliament as part of its contribution to the rebuilding of Afghanistan. It was inaugurated by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his guest Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of India, in late 2015.

ZARANJ-DELARAM HIGHWAY

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India's Border Roads Organisation developed Delaram-Zaranj Highway. It is a 218 km roadway in the Nimruz Province of Afghanistan connecting the Delaram District in Afghanistan to the border of Iran. The opposite way goes towards the south near Zaranj, Afghanistan. It is one of the busiest roads in Afghanistan and provides a vital trade route between Iran and the rest of Asia. 

STOR PALACE

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the rebuilt Stor Palace in Kabul in 2016. Initially built in the late 19th century, and which was the setting for the 1919 Rawalpindi Agreement by which Afghanistan became an independent country. The building consisted of offices for the Afghan foreign minister and the ministry until 1965. In 2009 tripartite contract was signed for its restoration by India, Afghanistan, and the Aga Khan Development Network. The Aga Khan Trust finished the project between 2013 and 2016.

INFRASTRUCTURE

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India reconstructed a children’s hospital in 1972 and named Indira Gandhi Institute for Child Health in 1985 in Kabul that was in shambles after the war. ‘Indian Medical Missions’ have held free consultation camps in several areas. India has also built clinics in the border provinces of Badakhshan, Balkh, Kandahar, Khost, Kunar, Nangarhar, Nimruz, Nooristan, Paktia, and Paktika. Indian projects in Afghanistan comprise rebuilding power infrastructure such as the 220kV DC transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri, capital of Baghlan province, to the north of Kabul, to strengthen electricity supply to the capital. Indian contractors and workers also restored telecommunications infrastructure in many regions.

TRANSPORTATION

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According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India gifted 400 buses and 200 mini-buses for urban transportation, 105 utility vehicles for municipalities, 285 military vehicles for the Afghan National Army, and Ten ambulances for public hospitals in five cities. It also gave three Air India aircraft to Ariana, the Afghan national carrier, while restarting operations.

EDUCATION

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India has donated tables and benches for schools and built solar panels in remote villages and Sulabh toilet blocks in Kabul. New Delhi has also played a role in building capacity, with vocational training institutes, scholarships to Afghan students, mentoring programs in the civil service, and training for doctors and others.

SALMA DAM

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Salma Dam is also known as the Afghan-India Friendship Dam. A hydroelectric and irrigation dam project was established on the Hari River in Chishti Sharif District of Herat Province in western Afghanistan. Since this project is financed and constructed by the Government of India as a part of the Indian aid project, the Afghan cabinet renamed the Salma Dam to the Afghan-India Friendship Dam in a gesture of gratitude to strengthen connections between the two countries.

OTHER ONGOING PROJECTS

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India had declared 100 community advancement projects worth $80 million in Afghanistan as early as last year. A contract for building the Shatoot Dam in the Kabul district, which aimed to give drinking water to roughly 2 million citizens were also signed more recently. The destiny of these projects seems unsure with the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan. India never had a working relationship with the Taliban in the past.