India-Afghanistan Relations

Relevance: mains: G.S paper II: International Relation

The US withdrawal from Afghan not only affects Indian policy on Afghan but also changes the regional balance of power in fundamental ways.

The diplomatic mandarins of New Delhi are apprehensive about the growing influence of the Taliban in Afghan and the centrality of the Taliban in ensuing peace processes.

We should delve into the history of Afghan and India’s role in various stages of this history to grasp the complete relevance of Afghan’s stability for India.

History of India-Afghan relations

Relations between the people of Afghanistan and India can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilisation. Following Alexander the Great’s brief occupation, the successor state of the Seleucid Empire controlled the region known today as Afghanistan. In 305 BCE, they ceded much of it to the Indian Maurya Empire as part of an alliance treaty. The Mauryans brought Buddhism from India and controlled the area south of the Hindu Kush.

From the 10th century to the mid 18th century, northern India has been invaded by a number of invaders based in what today is Afghanistan. Some of them were Ghaznavids, Khaljis, Mughals, Durranis etc. During these eras, many Afghans began immigrating to India due to political unrest in their regions.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan of Afghan was a prominent leader of the Indian independence movement and active supporter of the Indian National Congress.

Strategic, Economic, and Security Interests

India-Afghanistan: Strategic interests

• If we go by Mandal Sidhanth, Afghan is India’s natural ally.

• • India is interested in retaining Afghanistan as a friendly state from which it has the capacity to monitor Pakistan and cultivate assets to influence activities in Pakistan.
  • While India is keenly interested in cultivating a significant partnership with Afghanistan, Pakistan is trying to deny India these very opportunities.
• India’s interest in Afghan is more than mere Pakistan-centrist and reflects its aspiration to be and to be seen as a regional power.
• Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan and Afghan has deleterious effects in the domestic social fabric of India, as Hindu fundamentalism in India is triggered by these external developments.
• Afghan is also a center of ‘great games’.
  • In Medieval times it was between Persian and Mughal Empire.
  • During colonial times it was between Russia and Britain.

Economic interests

Afghanistan has a mineral wealth of about $1-3 trillion of Iron ore, Lithium, Chromium, Natural Gas, Petroleum etc.

Safeguarding Indian investments and personnel in Afghan is utmost important to India as Indian investment in Afghan amounts to about $3bn.

Security interests

• India faced many security challenges from the Taliban in Afghan during the 1990s.

• • Pakistan has raised and supported several militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen/Harkat-ul-Ansar, and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami among others, which operate in India.
  • All of these groups have trained in Afghanistan, with varying proximity to the Taliban and by extension al-Qaeda.
  • Thus India is absolutely adamant that Afghanistan should not again become a terrorist safe haven.
  • Radical ideologies and terrorism spreading in this region are a security threat for India.
• With Pakistan increasing its strategic depth in Afghan, it can reverse the gain of India in Afghan brought through much cost. Pakistan can incubate and move around various anti-India groups in Afghan especially in Loya Paktia.

The golden crescent comprising of Iran, Afghan, and Pakistan is a worry for India, especially with respect to the issue of drug abuse in Punjab.

Islamic State is using Afghan as an outpost in Asia as it comes under stress in Iraq and Syria.

Indian engagement in Afghan post Independence

• India has sought to establish its presence in Afghanistan from the early days of its independence in 1947.
• In 1950, Afghanistan and India signed a “Friendship Treaty.”
• India had robust ties with Afghan King Zahir Shah’s regime.
• Prior to the Soviet invasion in 1979, New Delhi had formalized agreements and protocols with various pro-Soviet regimes in Kabul.
• While India’s role in Afghanistan was constrained during the anti-Soviet jihad, between 1979 and 1989, India expanded its development activities in Afghanistan, focusing upon industrial, irrigation, and hydroelectric projects.
• After the Taliban consolidated their hold on Afghanistan in the mid-1990s, India struggled to maintain its presence and to support anti-Taliban forces.
• However, Indian objectives in Afghanistan remained modest given the constrained environment. India aimed to undermine the ability of the Taliban to consolidate its power over Afghanistan, principally by supporting the Northern Alliance in tandem with other regional actors.
• Working with Iran, Russia, and Tajikistan, India provided important resources to the Northern Alliance, the only meaningful challenge to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Since 2001, India has relied upon development projects and other forms of humanitarian assistance.

Indian policy on Afghanistan

• Afghan is India’s natural partner, not just to balance Pakistan but also for the fulfilment of energy-economic interest.
• Indian policy in Afghan can be described as the dichotomy between its aspiration for a larger role in its northwestern neighbourhood and the real constraints on it.
• In 2011 India became the first country Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership agreement. Until then India was following US demand of India’s limited cooperation with Afghan.
• India has repeatedly stressed that its relationship with Afghan is independent of Pakistan.
• India argues that the tripartite relationship between India, Pakistan, and Afghan are mutually independent:

• • In both the 1965 and 1971 wars, Afghanistan was non-committal and did not support India.
  • On the Kashmir issue, Afghanistan has not publicly supported India
  • India has not entered the debate on the Durand Line.
• In 2018, in a first major offensive military platform to Kabul, India gifted a Mi 25 attack helicopter.
  • The delivery marks the first time India has gifted offensive combat capability to Afghanistan, a sensitive topic in the past due to strong objections by Pakistan.
  • Under the agreement, India will also train Afghan defence personnel on operations.