Amidst uncertainties, India must leverage its soft power earned from its contribution to Afghanistan in various ways. Analyse (200 Words)
Refer - The Indian Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 3 years
KEY POINTS
· India is currently the fifth-largest donor in Afghanistan. The latter is also among the top five recipients of India’s external assistance.
· India’s total development assistance over the years has been worth over $3 billion.
· India has established itself over the last two decades as a reliable development partner, having largely delivered on its envisioned projects.
· The former has helped build goodwill and greater people-to-people contact and has involved measures focusing on health, education, capacity development and food security, among others.
· As far as hard infrastructure is concerned, building institutions, roads and infrastructure for power transmission has featured prominently.
· Examples include the parliament building which was inaugurated in 2015, financing the Delaram-Zaranj Highway as well as the 42 MW Salma Dam in Herat province.
· India had also engaged in triangular cooperation under the US umbrella, cooperating with USAID on various programmes like the Afghan Women’s Empowerment Programme.
· India follows a demand-driven approach, which implies that the sectors for investment are chosen by the recipient government.
· although its aid is extended as a soft means to gain strategic leverage, it comes without political trappings.
· At the Afghanistan Conference in Geneva in 2020, India announced several fresh development commitments including the construction of the Shahtoot Dam in Kabul.
· India can do much to build a more resilient Afghanistan with respect to climate change and disaster risk reduction with it spearheading global campaigns like CDRI.
