A setback to dozens of Indian projects in Afghanistan

India’s Ministry of External Affairs has told a parliamentary panel that due to the current political and security situation in Afghanistan, several projects initiated there with the help of India have suffered a major setback and are facing various challenges. .

The Parliamentary Panel on Foreign Affairs, chaired by the ruling BJP MP PP Chaudhary, says that the financial assistance to Afghanistan has decreased. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that it has taken note of the parliamentary panel’s comments and will work to resolve them.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said in its report that “implementation of several proposals in this regard has been started. Due to the political and security situation in Afghanistan, the implementation of these projects has suffered.”

India is helping to implement more than 500 projects in various sectors in different provinces of Afghanistan. Among them, several projects are of great importance. Among the projects that India is helping to build in Afghanistan is the Salma Dam, one of the largest dams in the country. It is India’s most expensive project in this region. India is spending 275 million dollars on it. After the construction of this dam, water and electricity will be provided to lakhs of families in Herat province.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with then President Ashraf Ghani inaugurated this dam in 2016. A period of 10 years was fixed for its construction but now it is looking difficult. India has also constructed the 218 km long Zaranj Delaram highway near the Iran border at a cost of Rs 600 crore. It was built by the Border Road Organization affiliated to the Indian Army.

India’s Central Public Works Department (CPWD) spent $90 million on the construction of the Afghanistan Parliament building. It was billed as a gift from India to the war-torn country. Prime Minister Modi inaugurated this building in 2015. The Indira Gandhi Institute for Child Health in Kabul is also working in collaboration with India. Construction of Chabahar port is also one of the important projects of India.

Strategic and foreign affairs expert Don McLean Gill has written in one of his articles that India has a lot at stake in Afghanistan. India is working there on projects ranging from connectivity projects to energy security and counter-terrorism.

According to McLean, India has invested so much in the welfare of the people of Afghanistan that it should consider long-term cooperation with the ruling Taliban, whether or not it recognizes the Taliban government directly. Do it. He further wrote that New Delhi cannot remain isolated from Afghanistan or Taliban for its strategic needs.