Recently, Taliban’s Head of Political Office Suhail Shaheen said that The Taliban delegation requested the Indian embassy’s personnel to help with the building and upkeep of infrastructure projects in the nation during a meeting with the head of mission there.
Actually, as the US pulled back from Afghanistan and Taliban was taking over almost all Indian companies developing key infrastructure in Afghanistan like Dams, Healthcare facilities, Schools left Afghanistan with a hold on all ongoing projects across Afghanistan. Everybody was uncertain of the ways Taliban would govern the state with terror goons. Indian companies had to leave even after a investment of more than $3 Billion in Afghanistan.
But to everyone’s surprise Taliban’s state policy hasn’t been that bad, especially considering their hard smash on Pakistan time to time, Let it be with the border issues with Pakistan or direct help & protection to TTP. As soon as Taliban took to power, it started to gain more and more government recognitions to it’s government which ultimately meant that all of these countries recognize Taliban as government of Afghanistan. India till date hasn’t officially recognized Taliban government although according to many reports backchannel talks continued, as a result of which Afghan land were not used at that scale to launch or support Pak based terror attacks in India.
There is no doubt that with Taliban Afghanistan is a rouge state, but it also can’t be ignored that people of Afghanistan are not meant to suffer for this. India holds a very special respect in the heart of common Afghan People who admire India as a true friend & unlike other ones, it entered Afghanistan only for the development of common people of Afghanistan. And the Taliban also knows this fact that if there’s any country which can help in development of Afghanistan it is India only. And there is a very strong reason behind it. Indian infrastructures in Afghanistan says it all.
Some Important Indian projects in Afghanistan:
- New Parliament building: In August 2005, the final Afghan king, Zahir Shah, lay the cornerstone for the new Afghan Parliament in the presence of Hamid Karzai and Manmohan Singh. The project’s consultant was the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) of India, and an Indian infrastructure business was chosen to get the contract in 2008. The renowned Darulaman neighbourhood of Kabul is home to the new Parliament building, which is enclosed on a 100-acre parcel. It is situated close to important historical sites including the Queen’s Palace and Amanullah Khan’s Palace. The $220 million building’s development was initially expected to be finished by 2012, or within 36 months. But because of difficult working conditions, a lack of competent labour, and a risky security environment, the deadline had to be postponed.
- Afghan-India Friendship Dam: Salma Dam is a hydroelectric and irrigation dam project situated on the Hari River in Chishti Sharif District of Herat Province in western Afghanistan. Its official name is the Afghan-India Friendship Dam. To improve ties between the two nations, the Afghan cabinet changed the name of the Salma Dam to the Afghan-India Friendship Dam. In addition to producing 42 MW of power, the hydroelectric facility also provides irrigation for 75,000 hectares of agricultural land (stabilising the existing irrigation of 35,000 hectares and development of irrigation facilities to an additional 40,000 hectares of land). On June 4, 2016, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani officially launched the dam.
In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sung the lyrics of a popular Bollywood song aloud as he opened Afghanistan’s brand-new Parliament building in Kabul: “yaari hai imaan mera, yaare mere zindagi” and with this India’s streak of infrastructural projects boosted in Afghanistan & to a result a massive $3 Billion Indian investment in Afghanistan.
Now, Taliban has understood that ever fighting war is totally different from that of governing a state. And the state needs a 360 degree development in all fields and India is a prime country which can help Taliban in this. For now, Taliban needs India to complete all it’s paused infra projects along with new investments.
But should India move back to Afghanistan!
Simple answer is a big Yes, As it’ll maintain Indian influence in Afghanistan and with this we can ensure the land of Afghanistan is not used for any Anti-India activity. Also with the very hostile neighborhood of Pakistan, India needs it’s strings to be tightened.
A few things we need to take care is to ensure the proper security for all our projects, which can easily be ensured by Taliban government. But will China not willing to have more influence in Afghanistan or will this good gesture of India be honored by Taliban! That is remains to be seen.
In conclusion, it can be said that India will re-enter Afghanistan for sure. let it be for the people of Afghanistan or for geostrategic advantage. Just India needs to be quick & conscious in it’s step in Afghanistan. We also need to be cautious of China’s role in Afghanistan. We can’t allow China succeeding in having one more debt trap state. So, India should revive it’s infra & developmental projects & in return we have to ensure that Afghan land is not used for Terrorism in India.
