In September 2016, India announced it would provide Afghanistan with $1 billion dollars
in economic aid.
This is far from the first time India has supported the war-torn country.
So why do India and Afghanistan love each other?
Well, India and Afghanistan were both once part of the British empire and shared a large
portion of their borders until the late 1940s, when India gained independence.
Their alliance largely began in 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
India was one of the first non-communist countries to recognize Afghanistan’s new soviet-backed
government.
As Afghanistan transitioned out of soviet rule a decade later, India sent aid and supported
every seceding government.
But their relationship hit a roadblock in 1996, when the Afghan government was seized
by the Taliban, a violent Islamist militia.
India refused to recognize Taliban rule.
In fact, no country short of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates would
sanction the oppressive regime.
Bilateral relations worsened in March 2001, when the Taliban ordered the destruction of
two ancient stone buddhas.
As the birthplace of Buddhism, India was deeply affected, and protests ensued.
But since the overthrow of the Taliban and the resulting US-led war, India and Afghanistan
have renewed diplomatic ties.
In fact, you could argue that they are stronger than ever.
India has pledged more than $2 billion dollars in aid money to Afghanistan, and, according
to the government, roughly four thousand Indian personnel are carrying out aid and security
projects.
This means anything from providing electricity to building schools to training Afghan police
and public officials.
And although India has never sent its own troops into Afghanistan, it has sent paramilitary
forces to secure the country’s porous border with China, a shared rival.
As India and Afghanistan’s security ties have grown, so has their shared economy.
Bilateral trade between the two countries has roughly doubled in the last decade, reaching
more than $680 million dollars in 2015.
India has also invested in Afghan infrastructure, including power projects, mines, more than
400 miles of roads, a bronze-domed parliament building and a hydroelectric “India-Afghan
friendship dam”.
Today, with the US pulling troops out of Afghanistan, India is struggling to define its role in
the still-unstable country.
Their relationship is further complicated by neighboring Pakistan, which has long tried
to secure power over the Afghan government.
As a longtime rival of India, Pakistan views the country’s growing support of Afghanistan
with suspicion.
Pakistani officials even blocked any Indian goods from passing through, forcing India
and Afghanistan to build a port in Iran in order to continue bilateral trade.
This is on top of growing concern over allegations that the Pakistani government has provided
safe havens for terrorists.
With ongoing regional instability and growing distrust for their shared neighbor, India
and Afghanistan’s alliance may be more crucial now than ever.
One of the big reasons that India looks to Afghanistan as an ally is to ward off the
influence of Pakisan.
To say that India and Pakistan have issues would be putting it mildly, the two have been
engaged in endless conflict since they were partitioned in the 1940s.
So, why exactly do India and Pakistan hate each other?