All in Vain: India Emerges as Net Loser in Afghanistan

India has emerged as a net loser in Afghanistan as its investments have gone into the hands of the Taliban without fulfilling their purpose.

India invested over $3 billion in Afghanistan with major projects including the Salma dam, Delaram-Zaranaj Highway and the parliament building.

It also built power transmission lines, schools, and hospitals as it entered a strategic partnership pact in 2011.

The Indian dreams of connecting with Central Asia via Iran and Afghanistan through Chahbahar port in Iran and Zaranj-Delaram Highway in Afghanistan have shattered.

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According to Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, his country launched some 400 projects in Afghanistan in almost all provinces.

Meanwhile, India’s exports to Afghanistan stand at around $900 million but with the Taliban at the helm, the future of it now looks bleak.

India also funded the anti-Taliban groups when Afghanistan was in a state of war post 9/11 but they also failed to resist the militia as they swept the country and ousted the Ghani government.

The upshot of the funding is the militia’s disgruntlement which was visible when the Taliban supported the insurgents who hijacked Indian Airlines Kandahar-bound flight in January 2020.

Meanwhile, as India was on the US-side on the Afghan issue since it began two decades ago, the country would have to swing for the fences to regain the trust of the Taliban who now control the landlocked country.

India’s engagement in Afghanistan will certainly shrink as the Ghani government no more controls the country and Pakistan, China and Russia have taken the pilot seat in the burning issue.

The Indian government also kept the Taliban at bay even when the war-initiator US started talking with them after 2014. This resulted in further repulsion between the militant group and India.