Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani will land in Delhi for his first state visit on Monday evening. While Mr. Ghani is no stranger to India, this time around he will be under scrutiny for what he says about how he visualises India-Afghanistan relations and, equally, what questions he chooses to sidestep. A look at some the key moments in India-Afghanistan bilateral ties.
India-Afghanistan ties
Fact files
- » Relations between the people of Afghanistan and India traces to the Indus Valley Civilisation.
- » In 1999, India became one of the key supporters of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.
- » India's support and collaboration extends to rebuilding of air links, power plants and investing in health and education sectors as well as helping to train Afghan civil servants, diplomats and police.
- » In 2005, India proposed Afghanistan's membership in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Both nations also developed strategic and military cooperation against Islamic militants.
- » Three memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for strengthening cooperation in the fields of rural development, education and standardisation during Hamid Karzai's visit to India in April 2006.
- » During the 15th SAARC summit in Colombo, India pledged another $450 million alongside a further $750 million already pledged for ongoing and forthcoming projects.
- » India condemned the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani in September 2011. India reiterated the steadfast support of the people and government of India in Afghanistan's "quest for peace and efforts to strengthen the roots of democracy"
- » India seeks to expand its economic presence in Afghanistan as the international coalition fighting the Taliban withdraws combat forces through 2014.
>India’s Afghan dilemma
A decade of democracy has opened up Afghan society and India’s cooperation programmes have helped develop sustainable links around a shared vision. Dialogues with Afghanistan’s neighbours will become important as these countries start feeling nervous about the return of instability
>India in Afghanistan
India, with a commitment of $1.2 billion through 2013, is already the sixth largest donor to Afghanistan, It has been involved in diverse development projects in infrastructure, education and agriculture..
Published - April 27, 2015 11:48 am IST
