India pledges $100 million in fresh aid to Afghanistan

[Sher Malang]

The Indian government has agreed to provide USD 100mn in aid to Afghanistan to fund reconstruction projects across the country.

Amar Sinha, Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan, said the aid was aimed at implementation of development projects to help boost Afghanistan’s economy.

India had provided USD 20mn funds to Afghanistan in 2005.

Afghan Economy Minister Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal said USD 14.3mn of the aid would be given to Afghanistan upon the signing of the agreement, and the remaining funds would be provided in four years time.

The funds would be spent on 15 education projects, 16 health projects, 21 rural development projects, 6 agricultural projects and 2 labor and social affairs projects.

The announcement of fresh aid by India to Afghanistan comes shortly after a group of militants attacked the Indian consulate in eastern Jalalabad city of Afghanistan; however, Indian and Afghan officials announced that such attacks will not have any impact on the relations between the two nations.

Source: India pledges USD 100mn in aid to Afghan government | Wadsam

 

[Star Wars]

Make an all out invasion of their hearts ....

 

[Truth Finder]

Indians love Afghan brothers.

 

[karan.1970]

Make an all out invasion of their hearts ....

And that's where India is different from Pakistan and USA as far as Afghanistan is concerned.. Afghan land and politics is for Afghans.. we dont need or want it..... Afghan friendship though is what we are after

 

[pakistani342]

I wonder if Pakistan was say Bhutan? How much would India have invested in Afghanistan?

I'm pretty sure there would have been a few zeros missing from the investment.
And, there is nothing wrong with that. India has a her own people to look after.

What is fascinating is that Afghans are totally oblivious to this and are have learnt nothing from their recent history.

 

[karan.1970]

I wonder if Pakistan was say Bhutan? How much would India have invested in Afghanistan?

I'm pretty sure there would have been a few zeros missing from the investment.
And, there is nothing wrong with that. India has a her own people to look after.

What is fascinating is that Afghans are totally oblivious to this and are have learnt nothing from their recent history.

No.. They are not.. Its pretty simple.. India and Afghanistan national interests converge in a lot of areas, some of them driven by Pakistani policies.. No shame in promoting a win - win relationship..

 

[pakistani342]

No.. They are not.. Its pretty simple.. India and Afghanistan national interests converge in a lot of areas, some of them driven by Pakistani policies.. No shame in promoting a win - win relationship..

No, I think we are talking about two different things:
1. I was referring to the platitudes of Indian/Afghan brotherhood that are often penned.
2. You are referring to India using Afghanistan as a Pawn in its foreign policy

They are two very different things.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts - lol.

 

[karan.1970]

No, I think we are talking about two different things:
1. I was referring to the platitudes of Indian/Afghan brotherhood that are often penned.
2. You are referring to India using Afghanistan as a Pawn in its foreign policy

They are two very different things.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts - lol.

You seem to be making a typical mistake of superimposing your thought process on someone else's actions.. I am not at all refering to Afghanistan as a pawn or any other piece in chess.. Its simply convergence of objectives for both India and Afghanistan. India can help Afghanistan in rebuilding its economy and Afghanistan prevents Pakistan from using afghan soil for anti India activities.. You scratch my back and I will scratch yours.. That's how most friendships start

 

[That Guy]

Indians love Afghan brothers.

Trust me, you won't be saying that when your country ends up having to take care of them after foreign forces leave.

You seem to be making a typical mistake of superimposing your thought process on someone else's actions.. I am not at all refering to Afghanistan as a pawn or any other piece in chess.. Its simply convergence of objectives for both India and Afghanistan. India can help Afghanistan in rebuilding its economy and Afghanistan prevents Pakistan from using afghan soil for anti India activities.. You scratch my back and I will scratch yours.. That's how most friendships start

I'm confused, how would using Afghan soil affect India in anyway? Correct me if I'm wrong, and I probably am, but isn't Afghanistan on the other side of Pakistan and has no border with India?

 

[my2cents]

I wonder if Pakistan was say Bhutan? How much would India have invested in Afghanistan?

I'm pretty sure there would have been a few zeros missing from the investment.
And, there is nothing wrong with that. India has a her own people to look after.

What is fascinating is that Afghans are totally oblivious to this and are have learnt nothing from their recent history.

You invest according the needs and size of the country. Bhutan is less than 1 million population compared to Afghanistan which is about 35 million.

Our investment pales in comparison to what other developed countries have invested in Afghanistan. USAID has invested close to 8 billion dollar in development assistance since 2002. I don't have Nato figures but should be substantial.

But with the withdrawal of the troops in 2014, these investments will come to nil. So the challenge falls on the regional players to provide help and stability. You don't want the ensuing chaos to spill over to Pakistan, do you???

For heavens sake don't think Afghans are stupid. The are not oblivious to what is happening to their country. They know very well who is helping them and who is back stabbing them. Time will tell....

peace.

 

[pakistani342]

You seem to be making a typical mistake of superimposing your thought process on someone else's actions.. I am not at all refering to Afghanistan as a pawn or any other piece in chess.. Its simply convergence of objectives for both India and Afghanistan. India can help Afghanistan in rebuilding its economy and Afghanistan prevents Pakistan from using afghan soil for anti India activities.. You scratch my back and I will scratch yours.. That's how most friendships start

No, I think it is pretty clear that India cannot effectively help Afghanistan if Pakistan perceives that help as a threat.

I suspect what may win out as a strategic choice is that India will use Afghanistan to keep Pakistan tied down (to use Jaswant Sing's euphemism).

Afghanistan, being, by far the weakest state will suffer the most of this tussle.

 

[Tshering22]

I wonder if Pakistan was say Bhutan? How much would India have invested in Afghanistan?

If Pakistan was like Bhutan, we would have used this Pak-Bhutan as a bridge of relationship with Afghanistan and created a common transit for trade.

We would have engaged all the three countries in full and free trade across the three borders and would have signed the TAPI and RTAPI (from Russia, a proposed model) of oil pipelines which would have helped faster progress of the region.

We would have heavily invested in power projects even in this Pak-Bhutan of yours for hydro-electricity like how TATA Power has in Bhutan.

A direct trade initiative with multiple expressways would have been built to trade with Mineral rich Afghanistan, which in turn would have revved up our own manufacturing sector threefold.

The trilateral trade would be in double digit billions and we'd have been prospering the entire region together.

Moreover, there would have been no hostility ever in any form if Pakistan was another Bhutan.

But you don't want that. So Pakistan is not a Bhutan. Simple

What is fascinating is that Afghans are totally oblivious to this and are have learnt nothing from their recent history.

Like what? CIA and ISI create Taliban who send the prospering Afghan society back to medieval era?

I think they've learnt that once very well. Which is why they are now approaching us.

If we had any interest in controlling them like how Pakistan and USA do, we'd have helped them with their defence and nothing more.

While all our assistance is towards only and only civilians:

-Roads
-Power plants
-Dams
-Schools
-Training centres
-Hospitals and nursing homes
-service centres

etc



Name one portion of our assistance money gone into getting them more weapons and creating more bloodshed.

 

[Pakistanisage]

Indians love Afghan brothers.

I am sure your Afghan brothers will soon display their love for their Indian Brothers as soon as the NATO forces exit in 2014.

I want to grab the best seat in the House to watch the show....

 

[pakistani342]

You invest according the needs and size of the country. Bhutan is less than 1 million population compared to Afghanistan which is about 35 million.

I would venture you understood exactly what I meant but in any case - if Pakistan was a 180 million people version of Bhutan - a pliant actor under the Indian sphere of influence and say Afghanistan was still a Muslim country wracked by extremists. India would have shown no considerable interest.

Our investment pales in comparison to what other developed countries have invested in Afghanistan. USAID has invested close to 8 billion dollar in development assistance since 2002. I don't have Nato figures but should be substantial.

I think the money that has gone into Afghanistan is about 65 billion by Western sources (not the actual amount that hit the ground - but the amount expended by the donors).

But with the withdrawal of the troops in 2014, these investments will come to nil. So the challenge falls on the regional players to provide help and stability. You don't want the ensuing chaos to spill over to Pakistan, do you???

I think Pakistan would be in a position to take care of its interests much better if say there was an Indian absence in Afghanistan.

For heavens sake don't think Afghans are stupid. The are not oblivious to what is happening to their country. They know very well who is helping them and who is back stabbing them. Time will tell....

I think actually, the Afghans are quite stupid if their performance during their recent past is a measure of stupidity - their last 30 years are essentially their own making - this script has been run before, the actors different but the outcome will possible by the same for the Afghans.

 

[Tshering22]

No, I think it is pretty clear that India cannot effectively help Afghanistan if Pakistan perceives that help as a threat.

We can easily help Afghans the way they want to have it, PROVIDED a strong government is there at the centre. The current government is a minority government in the parliament, held by strings of black money bribed to other local parties for its support.

Other than any political dissatisfaction that I have here I would like to state that, any government in such position cannot take strong decisions in a parliamentary democracy.

Elections are next year which means that the new government will be very very different from what you're seeing here.

It may continue the same level of assistance in terms of financial handouts, BUT their attitude towards Pakistan/Taliban attacks would be very different and much to the latter's dislike.

I suspect what may win out as a strategic choice is that India will use Afghanistan to keep Pakistan tied down (to use Jaswant Sing's euphemism).

That's the government we're talking about in my above lines.

However, if you observe we are not assisting their military programs which YOU and ISAF are: supplying weapons, equipment, counter terrorism, police duties, training programs etc. The only military assistance we are giving is more concessions in terms of numbers to the Afghan cadet officers to train at Indian military establishments in India.

Afghanistan, being, by far the weakest state will suffer the most of this tussle.

Afghanistan was a strong, stable and prosperous country until US and Pakistan meddled and destroyed it.

Now the same Taliban is destroying its once-creators and you're getting angry about it.

At least now open your eyes and see what your governments have done, dude.