Prime Minister Modi flagged off tightly-packed five nation
visit on June 4th 2015. Referred to as a “Consolidation visit” by
strategists, the grueling itinerary that spanned three continents reaching five
countries- Afghanistan, Qatar, Switzerland, US and Mexico began on an positive
note. Modi made a scintillating beginning by inaugurating The Indo-Afghan
friendship bridge (the Salma Dam) in Herat province in the first leg of trip.
Fresh from the triumphant sealing of the historic Trilateral Transport and
Agreement on Chabahar Port, successful completion of Indian venture in
Afghanistan has added new impetus to the Indo-Afghan relations. The 42 MW
hydroelectric dam can irrigate 75,000 hectares of land (stabilize irrigation to
the existing 35,000 ha and provide water supply to additional 40,000 ha).
Parched lands of 640 villages devastated by 15 year long drought can now be
irrigated from the waters of the dam constructed across Harirud River. Besides electrifying
2.5 lakh homes Salma Dam is expected to propel industrial developmental
projects and draw investments from neighboring Iran and Turkmenistan. Till now
Afghanistan used to buy 22 MW and 100 MW power from Turkmenistan and Iran
respectively. The dam in all is set to boost Afghanistan’s installed power
capacity by 10% is thus believed to transform the region. But for the real
benefits to roll in, Afghanistan has to expedite construction of electric power
stations and irrigational channels.
Salma Dam was built by India at a cost of 1770 Crores ($290
million) by WAPCOS (Water and Power Consultancy Services), a construction
company owned by the Ministry of Water Resources, India. Indeed WAPCOS was created upon Afghanistan’s
request who sought Indian help in construction of hydroelectric projects way
back in 1968. The dam located in the Chisti Sharif district, 165 km from Herat
city could be reached by an earthen road making the transportation of
construction material an onerous task. India shipped all the material to the
Afghanistan through the Bandar Abbas port in Iran and after travelling for
1200km would pass through the Islam Kila, Iran-Afghanistan Border post. Within
Afghanistan the material had to be moved for further 300km to reach the site.
Aside these difficulties, the project had to overcome two insurmountable
challenges- getting approval of Iran to ship detonation material through its
ports and security threats from Afghan Taliban. India Projects in Afghanistan
have been viciously targeted by Afghan insurgency groups. The friendship dam is
an outcome of sacrifices endured by 1500 engineers from India and Afghanistan.
Despite the constant threats of attacks and uninterrupted exchange of gun
firing running in a distant background, the committed engineers and workers
accomplished a near impossible task.
Feasibility reports for construction of a dam were believed to be
prepared in 1958. Salma dam construction began in 1976. Following the Russian
occupation in 1978, Herat became center for massive rebellion and the project was
aborted. In 1988 reconstruction of the dam was initiated by WAPCOS but it had
to be shelved due to domestic insurgencies. After the fall of Taliban regime
when peace was restored, Atal Bihari Vajpayee aspired to rebuild the dam. A
delegation of WAPCOS revisited the site in 2002. Cabinet approval was obtained
in 2004, contracts were awarded and India sanctioned 352 crores. By January 2006,
construction was initiated but the mountainous terrain, threat from the
militant groups and incoherent finances stifled the progress of the
construction. In 2013, Afghan National Directorate of Security claimed that
Quetta Shura attempted to blow away the dam with explosives. The deadlines were
endlessly stretched. Several deadlines were missed these include- December 2008,
December 2010, January 2015, July 2015 and finally the project was ready by
June 2016. As a result, the final outlay of project is over 400% of original
estimate. Besides, Salma Dam the major projects initiated by Indiaand dedicated
to Afghanistan include Zaranj-Delram Road, Pul-i-Khumri transmission line and
the Parliament Building. As a token of immense respect, Modi was honored with
Amir Amanullah Khan Award, Afghanistan’s highest civilian award during his
visit. Dedicating the dam to Afghanistan, Modi assured Afghanistan of all
support and promised to work towards building a stable nation.
India and Afghanistan has close civilizational and
geographical ties. The village Chisti, located at the foot of Salma dam was
home town of iconic Sufi preacher, Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti. The Saint, expounder
of Sufism who migrated to India carrying the message of love, brotherhood and
friendship is highly revered in India. Dargahs in Ajmer, Delhi and Fatehpur
Sikri constructed in his honor are frequented by thousands of followers even
today. Colossal statues of Buddha and idols of other Hindu Gods recovered from
Afghanistan reminds of close civilizational connect between the countries. In
1915, India nationalists established provisional government-in-exile in Kabul to
obtain support from Afghan Emirate, Tsar of Russia, China and Japan for Indian
Freedom Movement in Kabul. Ranging from the friendship between Mahatma Gandhi
and Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan to providing a safe exit to Subhas Chandra Bose to
Russia through its territory, Afghanistan is closely linked to India. Even the
political relations between two countries have been very cordial. But India
severed relations with Afghanistan during the Taliban regime when the Bamiyan
Buddha Statues were destroyed and supported the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.
India restored diplomatic ties after Taliban regime was overthrown and
participated actively in reconstruction activity. India provided humanitarian
and economic aid and prevailed as the largest regional aid provider. India
strongly pushed for the membership of Afghanistan into SAARC in 2005. Both
countries strengthened its bilateral ties by extending cooperation in various
sectors by signing the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA). Under SPA India
began to provide assistance in rebuilding infrastructure and institutions,
capacity building, technical assistance and providing training to the troops.
India has so far invested $2billion in Afghanistan making it largest benefactor
of India. But the relations took a new turn in 2015.
Unlike his predecessor Hamid Karzai who had a favorable
approach towards India, the new president Ashraf Ghani who assumed power in
September 2014, levitated towards Pakistan. With US and allied partners
announcing withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani conscious of
Pakistan’s despotic leverage in controlling Afghan Taliban entered into a
strategic partnership with Islamabad. Despite Afghanistan’s overtures and
appeasement of Pakistan India harbored a conciliatory approach towards Afghanistan.
By 2015, Afghanistan witnessed a resurgence of Afghan Taliban who wrested
Kunduz and Herat for a brief period and country was in state of turmoil. According
to a conservative estimate nearly one-fifth of the country is now controlled by
Afghan Taliban. Pro-Pakistani officials began to infiltrate into
administrative structure leading to a sense of disarray. Alarmed by the
deteriorating economy, law and security situation, US called for meetings of
the leaders of Afghan Peace and Reconciliation Quadrilateral Coordination Group
(QCG) comprising of Afghanistan, Pakistan and China. QCG conveniently sidelined
India, the crucial developmental partner of Afghanistan. Pakistan having played
a pivotal role in positioning of US in Afghanistan and China’s whose financial
interests are linked to Afghanistan’s stability were endorsed to play key role
in peace talks between Afghan government and Taliban. In reality, China’s
financial assistance and its role in Afghan’s security is negligible. US
included China to pressurize Pakistan from extending support to the Haqqani
Network and Afghan Taliban acting at its behest. Further strong Sino-Pakistan
relations are believed to result in a durable reconciliation. With Pakistan
given a free hand, there has been a spurt in Taliban’s rampage. With Afghan
Taliban largely working under the aegis of Pakistan, its salience in the
restoration of peace and reconciliation has become vital. Right from keeping
the death of Mullah Omar’s secret for two years and providing safe shelters to
Afghan Taliban leaders, Pakistan had all literally all levers to control.
After failure of Pakistan’s outreach, Ghani visited India to
revive and strengthen ties with New Delhi. Demonstrating India’s commitment to
stand by its traditional partner, Modi visited Afghanistan in December 2015,
donated four Mi-25 attack helicopters, inaugurated the $90 million Parliament
Building and employed soft power approach. India organized the Heart of Asia
(HoA) conference which was participated by 14 countries in April 2016 to speed
up revival of war-torn Afghanistan. At
HoA, irked by burgeoning terror attacks, Ashraf Ghani asked Pakistan to stall
its attempts of bringing Taliban for peace negotiation and sought military
action against them. He threatened to refer the issue to UNSC if Pakistan’s
fails to control and launch serious diplomatic efforts if it fails to defang militant
groups. Though Pakistan has asserted Afghanistan of prompt action, as of now
nothing has changed on ground.
Recently US launched a drone attack on Taliban leader Mullah
Akhtar killing him in the Balouchistan province of Pakistan. Various factions
of Taliban under Mullah Akhtar’s leadership grappled hard to find a common
chord, his sudden death is believed to unify the groups under new leader,
Haibatullah Akhunzada who is deeply religious. Subsequently the tensions
between Afghanistan and Pakistan are set to rise. Aptly, Modi pulled out all
stops to reach to Afghanistan. By sealing a resourceful trilateral cooperation
with Iran and Afghanistan over the Chabahar port, India promises to bring
additional sources of revenue to the country relying heavily on foreign
assistance. By offering support at right time, India has successfully weaned
Afghanistan from Pakistan’s deeply tangled opportunistic web. This move, would
by and large subdue the anxieties of US, which is contemplating rapid
withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan. The trilateral cooperation and new sense
of rejuvenation instilled by Modi through inauguration of Salma Dam might offer
needed succor to the perilous security situation of Afghanistan. India has also
signed TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) pipeline
reiterating its commitment towards Afghanistan’s economic development.
Moreover, a stable Afghanistan is in best of Indian interests
as otherwise it would soon be a breeding ground for jihadi forces targeting
Kashmir. To mitigate the unstable backyard, India has unleashed its soft power
and has been providing all kinds of assistance. These include-food assistance
for 1.5million school children through World Food program, 100 scholarships
annually to Afghan students, capacity building for Afghan civil servants and
empowerment of Afghan women and youth, 500 scholarships for children of martyrs
of Afghan security force, training and medical treatment in India for personnel
of Afghan NSDF, establishment of diagnostic center and construction of waste
water treatment plant in Kabul. A
blossoming Indo-Afghan relations can curb growing Pakistani influence in the
region. Critics lashed out at India for squandering a traditionally strong
relationship with Afghanistan when Ashraf Ghani wooed Pakistan. But within a
year, Ghani’s strategy miserably failed, forcing him to embrace India.
Overwhelmed by the growing Islamic terrorism in Xinjiang Province, China is
keen on taking lead role in regional stability. It is congruently building
military ties with Afghanistan. China exuded interest in deepening security
ties with Afghanistan and talks with regards to cooperation on counter-terrorism
and intelligence and training of security personnel are on the agenda. New
Delhi is currently displaying unusual tenacity in strengthening ties with
Afghanistan. Being a traditional partner of Afghanistan, India is poised to
have a better edge.
With Modi all set to deepen ties with the US, stabilizing
Afghanistan can be a shared objective wherein both countries can work towards
initiating various developmental program to bring back crippled Afghan economy
to its heels. Afghanistan issue finds mention in the joint Indo-US statement
too. US perplexed by deteriorating security conditions of Afghanistan is
mulling cooperation of a regional partner for reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Modi’s current visit has instilled a ray of optimism in Afghanistan, but the
panoply of Afghan history is riddled by several travesties. Afghanistan is a
tough country. India must refrain from putting boots on ground and
pragmatically engage in reconstruction activities.
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