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India’s role in Afganistan
Why is it in news?
- India reminded the United States that it does not send soldiers abroad but for U.N. Peacekeeping Operations.
- It is in reply to President Donald Trump mocking about India’s development work in Afghanistan indicating that Delhi should send soldiers to control the decades-long civil war in the country.
More in news
- India plays a significant role as a development partner based on the specific needs and requirements of the Afghan government.
- India is also the largest donor in the region with development assistance exceeding $3 billion
India’s stand:
- India firmly believes in the critical role that developmental assistance can play in transforming human lives.
- India said it does not send its armed forces abroad except under the specific mandate of UN Peacekeeping Operations.
- As per India, its assistance to Afghanistan is part of a bilateral arrangement with the Government of President Ashraf Ghani.
USA’s stand:
- President Trump in his conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicating that building of facilities like libraries do not add to resolving the security crisis in Afghanistan and sought regional cooperation involving India, Pakistan and Russia to resolve the crisis in Kabul.
India’s assistance:
- It is largely in five fields – infrastructure projects, capacity building, economic development, connectivity and humanitarian assistance.
- Infrastructure projects: Construction of the 218-km road from Zaranj to Delaram for movement of goods to the Iranian border, construction of the 220kV DC transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul that provides a key element of security for Afghan and US troops, the 42MW India-Afghanistan Friendship Dam or Salma dam that supplies water for irrigating 75,000 hectares, and the new Afghan Parliament.
- Military assistance: More than 3,500 Afghans are undergoing training programmes in India and there is a special scheme of 1,000 scholarships a year for Afghan nationals.
- Humanitarian assistance: India has supplied 1.1 million tonne of wheat to Afghanistan and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, a 400-bed hospital, is the main medical facility in Afghanistan that treats about 300,000 children every year.
- Economic development efforts: India has taken up 116 “high impact community development projects” in 31 provinces of Afghanistan in areas such as education, health care, agriculture, renewable energy and flood control, as well as 94 small development projects.
Source
The Hindu, Hindustan times