New Delhi, Sep 6 The humanitarian aid dispatched by New Delhi immediately after the initial earthquake rocked the southeastern parts of Afghanistan at the end of August is not a gesture in isolation.
Though India has not granted recognition to the Taliban rulers in Kabul, it has continued its outreach for the common people’s benefit in this beleaguered country.
India’s evolving engagement with the Taliban is not a matter of ideological alignment, but of geopolitical necessity. Since the regime’s return to power in Aug 2021, New Delhi has recalibrated its approach from outright rejection to cautious diplomacy.
India’s engagement with the Taliban is driven by a range of strategic imperatives. A stable Afghan regime can help deny Pakistan-based terror proxies safe havens, bolstering India’s border security.
Afghanistan also serves as a vital land bridge to Central Asia and the Chabahar port corridor, offering New Delhi alternative access for trade and energy resources.
Incidentally, a Parliamentary Standing Committee report, tabled in March this year, underscored the need for projects and programmes aimed at the welfare of women and children in Afghanistan.
It noted that the allocation for ‘Aid to Afghanistan’ was Rs 200 crores during the Budget Estimate (BE) 2024-25, but was revised to Rs 50 crores in the Revised Estimate (RE) stage.
It was then increased to Rs 100 crores in BE 2025-26.
According to the External Affairs Ministry, budgetary allocation to Afghanistan since Aug 2021 was primarily aimed at stabilising the country in terms of food security, medicines and emergency supplies.
The report quoted the Ministry that, now that these efforts have been fruitful, leading to marked improvement in these areas, it has been decided to explore development cooperation projects in addition to the ongoing humanitarian aid.
Earlier, India put in a total of USD 3 billion for dams, hospitals and education even before 2021. The Taliban is seeking New Delhi’s help in several construction projects. Operations may soon be revived as security stabilises.
New Delhi faces challenges in moving men and material via the land route as it lies through Pakistan, where several bureaucratic and political roadblocks are often created. Additionally, skirmishes at the Af-Pak border lead to long waits at the entry point.
Despite several other difficulties, India has successfully invested in several long-standing humanitarian and reconstruction investments. Such gestures have helped build goodwill, countering the “Great Game” played by other countries.
The history of such manoeuvrings has been chronicled by Peter Hopkirk, who authored the book, ‘The Great Game’.
He wrote extensively about the diplomatic significance of Afghanistan, documenting overt and covert battles fought in the region for centuries.
The title of the book – borrowed from the phrase and term coined by a British intelligence officer, Captain Arthur Conolly, in the 19th century – aptly sums up the diplomatic one-upmanship.
While some experts believe that India does not have a clear policy regarding Afghanistan, others prefer to term it as strategic patience.
But throughout this time, New Delhi reworked and re-strategised its options. In fact, India has reached out to the successive governments in Kabul.
In recent times, following the meeting between Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri with the Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, in Dubai early this year, it was decided to explore development cooperation projects in addition to the ongoing humanitarian aid.
Afghanistan was among the nations that denounced the Pahalgam. Muttaqi had called up External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to convey their feeling.
Soon after the recent earthquake, Jaishankar held a telephonic conversation with Muttaqi and expressed condolences at the loss of lives.
The efforts continue, but a pragmatic approach has to be followed. India can not be a helpless bystander in the next “Great Game”.
--IANS
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