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In a recent development, India has signaled willingness to step up its military assistance to Afghanistan. This move has added one more significant dimension to Indo-Afghan relations. During the past decade-and-a-half, India has taken multiple steps to strengthen its relationship with Afghanistan.

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001 at the hands of US-led coalition forces, India moved swiftly to make its presence felt in Afghanistan. The Taliban, harboring the alleged 9/11 perpetrators linked to Al- Qaeda, were removed from power by coalition forces.

Prior to September 11, 2001, the Taliban did not have a warm relationship with India, although the group did receive support from Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI. Since the partition of British India in 1947 into two countries, Pakistan has been a political, cultural and social rival of India. Aggressive acts have been committed on both sides, the most extreme example being the nuclear arms race between the two countries. With the capture of Kabul in 1996 by the Taliban, the Indian government led by the then Prime Minster H.D. Deve Gowda, did not officially recognize the Taliban. On the contrary, India, along with Iran and Russia, were strong supporters of the Northern Alliance, a multi-ethnic anti-Taliban force based in northern Afghanistan.

Events changed dramatically in favor of India in the post-Taliban period as members of the Northern Alliance got the lion’s share of power in Kabul during the Bonn Conference held in Germany in 2001 to discuss the future of Afghanistan. Pakistan, stood as a helpless bystander of events, forced to watch the ousting of its Taliban ally. The Indian government was now in full swing to take maximum political advantage by announcing generous financial and technical aid to the newly established Afghan government under President Hamid Karzai.

Shift in India’s Strategy

With a new and somewhat pro-India dispensation in Kabul, India shifted its strategy towards Afghanistan. The help that it was giving to anti-Taliban forces in the form of military equipment was channeled to the Afghan government, in the form of technical support and capacity building of human resources, with a main focus on the development of Afghanistan’s infrastructure. The earlier donation of airplanes by India to the crippled Afghan Aviation sector and the announcement of ICCR scholarships for Afghan students were notable examples of Indian aid.

According to The Hindu,in undertaking of these projects, Indian engineers faced constant threats from the insurgency, with the loss of life of an Indian engineer in the process. With financial and technical help of India, the construction of a new parliament building in Kabul and the Salma dam in Herat province is now complete. The financial aid of India has been on the rise and to date it has pledged more than two billion dollars for the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

With the increasing influence of India in Afghanistan in post-Taliban era, Pakistan has also been active in development activities in Afghanistan. The move, however, has aroused suspicions among Afghan people and authorities. In April 2009, on the condition of anonymity, one former high-ranking Afghan official revealed to the Journal of International Affairs, that Afghanistan was wary of Pakistani aid due to past meddling with its affairs. In other words, Kabul turned a suspicious eye toward aid from Islamabad due to its past support for the Taliban. This is in part due to ongoing disputes between the two countries over the Durand Line, which have never been resolved. This geographic conflict centers on the fate of the predominantly Pashtun tribes along the border. In the words of Barnett Rubin and Abubakar Siddique, “The long history of each state offering sanctuary to the other’s opponents has built bitterness and mistrust between the two neighbors.”

The Future of the Relationship

According to the Indian magazine, Tehelka, the Afghan-Indo partnership is a win-win, as it is based on a solid foundation of trust. The relationship was further solidified with the signing of strategic agreement between the two countries in October 2011. The agreement created an “institutional framework” that allows India to help Afghan government in capacity building in the areas of education, development and more importantly train Afghan security forces. India which is experiencing an impressive economic growth for the past two decades, is eager to strengthen its economic ties with Afghanistan too. The natural resources of Afghanistan are huge and untapped which makes it an ideal arena of investment for Indian companies. On top of this, the location of the country could be the more important focus for India as it is a passageway to Central Asia. Through Afghanistan, India can reach the Central Asian markets for its products and at the same time access the enormous energy of the region for its energy-hungry industries.

Pakistan, on the other hand, is worried about the growing influence of India in Afghanistan. Its main contention that Afghanistan is being used by India for anti-Pakistan activities. The unrest in Baluchistan province, which is blamed on India and the growing numbers of Indian consulates in several parts of Afghanistan, is cited as proof of belligerent intent toward Pakistan. In October 2001, The Express Tribune, a Pakistani daily, quoted Inspector General Frontier Corps of Baluchistan Major General Obaidullah Khattak reporting, that India was using Afghan territory to carry out terrorist attacks in Baluchistan. The paper cited Khattak’s claim that “there is evidence that Afghanistan is being used against Pakistan”. The daily also cited Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf’s statement that India sought to create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan as part of a bid to dominate South Asia politically and economically.

India, which faces hostile Taliban forces targeting its interests in Afghanistan, has also blamed Pakistan for carrying out anti-India activities by using its proxies there. The bombing of Indian Embassy in July 2008, for example, was blamed on the ISI, although Pakistan, denied the allegation.

The blame game between Pakistan and India will certainly continue. Whether it is mere rhetoric used by both sides or they have solid evidence to prove their accusations, is yet to be seen. But one thing is for sure, India is in Afghanistan to stay.

Afghans’ Concern

The Afghans are watching both India and Pakistan. They welcome their contribution to help them reconstruct their county. But what the country’s people and government don’t like is that their country becoming a battlefield for India and Pakistan to fight their proxy war.

*(PM Modi & Afghanistan president Ghani jointly inaugurate Afghan-India Friendship Dam. Image credit: Narendra Modi/ flickr).