Diplomatist Magazine DIplomatist September 2018 | Page 69

Indian development work in
Afghanistan wins many hearts
I
n the years since the Taliban was removed
from power in neighbouring Afghanistan,
India has been taking up reconstruction
work in the country, especially in the areas
of education, water supply, healthcare and
housing, to help pull the country out of the
devastation brought on by decades of war
and infi ghting. In the coming years, India’s
development engagement in Afghanistan is
expected to shoot up as the former is keen to
take up more projects in the war-torn nation as
part of its humanitarian assistance programme.
India to take up various community
development projects in Afghanistan
Despite Indian aid workers facing hostility
from extremist organisations active in the
country, including the Taliban, India has
sought to increase its relief operations in
Afghanistan with an agreement to take up
various community development projects in
the latter. The agreement, which was signed
in the early week of February this year, aims
to improve the lives of Afghans living in the
remote areas of the country.
Last year, soon after a meeting between
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and
Aghan President Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines
of the UN General Assembly, India had shown
its willingness to take up various community
development projects in 31 provinces in
Afghanistan.
“Over and above these high impact projects,
India has also offered assistance for six new
projects under its aid assistance program.
These include building low-cost housing for
returning Afghan refugees, improving road
connectivity, construction of a national park,
and economic development,” said External
Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar
after the meeting.
The projects aim to cover areas such as
education, health, agriculture, irrigation,
drinking water, renewable energy, fl ood control,
micro-hydropower, sports infrastructure, and
administrative infrastructure.
As part of its development initiative
in Afghanistan, India also committed to
building the Shahtoot dam, setting up drinking
water projects for Kabul and Charikar city,
constructing low-cost houses for returning
Afghan refugees in Nangarhar, developing
roads in Bamyan province, and constructing a
polyclinic in Mazar-e-Sharif.
Ongoing projects
India is the largest provider of aid - both
monetary and otherwise - to Afghanistan in
the region. In the past few years, the former
has taken up projects for improving air links
to and within Aghanistan, constructing power
plants, investing in the latter’s health and
education sectors, as well as training Afghan
civil servants, diplomats, and the police.
Apart from the above, India is also
helping Afghanistan develop communication
infrastructure (optic fi bre network) and the
Surobi 2 hydropower plant (which will have a
capacity of 180 MW) in the country.
Some of the other ongoing projects include:
1) Indira Gandhi I nstitute of Child Health
(IGICH): An example of India’s successful
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 6 • Issue 9 • September 2018, Noida • 69