India has sent a multi-member team of senior diplomats to Afghanistan for the first time since the Indian Embassy in Kabul was evacuated in August 2021. This delegation has been sent to Kabul for meetings with senior members of the Taliban and to oversee humanitarian relief efforts.

After the Taliban takeover in August 2021, although, India closed its embassy in Afghanistan, it continued with humanitarian aid. India, like other countries, has not recognized the Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

India provided 75,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan to strengthen food security during the Covid-19 pandemic. India has dispatched several shipments of humanitarian aid consisting of 20,000 tonnes of wheat, 13 tonnes of medicines, 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines, and winter clothing.

INDIA AND AFGHANISTAN

India has been one of the oldest and strongest proponents of democratic governance in Kabul. From the 2001 Bonn conference, which facilitated the formation of an interim government to take over from the Taliban to the present day, India has maintained a broad-based approach in engaging with successive Afghan governments.

Afghanistan is the gateway to energy-rich Central Asia & situated at the crossroads between South Asia & Middle East. A stable government in Kabul is essential to reduce terror activities across south Asia & in J & K.  India is also trying to create stability in Afghanistan to fulfill its own energy needs and trade interests in Central Asia in the long-term; unstable Afghanistan yet again turning into a springboard for destabilization and terrorism, with a direct impact on India’s security.

India has contributed to the economic reconstruction of war-ravaged Afghanistan, adopting a ‘soft power approach’ since 2001. India, re-establishing cultural and historical links between the two countries; provided development aid and assistance for economic, social, civilian, political, and administrative capacity building;

construction of a 218-kilometer highway from Zaranj to Delaram to facilitate the movement of goods and services to the Iranian port of Chabahar; a dam on the Hari Rud River; a 220kV DC transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul; the Afghan India Friendship Dam also known as the Salma Dam; the new Afghan Parliament building, which was being built by India; upgrading of telephone exchanges in 11 provinces; the expansion of the national television network by providing an uplink from Kabul and downlinks in all 34 provincial capitals for greater integration through communication systems.

           India is  Afghanistan’s fifth-largest bilateral donor country, having pledged more than US$2 billion and invested in diverse areas including healthcare, education, infrastructure, social welfare, and the training of politicians, diplomats, and police

                      Afghan security forces with critical operational training, limited military equipment, and capacity-building courses—assistance that was ramped up after the signing of the India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement in October 2011.

          Establishing diplomatic contacts with a politically empowered Taliban will be crucial to safeguarding New Delhi’s existing and future economic interests in the country, including those linked with Central Asian energy markets and broader connectivity projects; an amicable relationship with the Taliban will provide India with some leverage over Afghanistan’s future, which it will use to offset Pakistan’s efforts aimed at sabotaging Indian stakes in the country.