India, which has been the largest regional contributor to Afghan reconstruction, has not shown an inclination to pursue a deeper defense relationship with Kabul, a US Congressional Report has said.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, titled “Afghanistan: Background and US Policy In Brief,” was dated 19 September and compiled ahead of the meetings of US President Donald Trump’s with Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan and with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. While Trump met Khan on 23 September in New York, the US president is set to meet Modi on Tuesday.
On Monday, Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar met Special US Representative on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad.
“India has been the largest regional contributor to Afghan reconstruction, but New Delhi has not shown an inclination to pursue a deeper defense relationship with Kabul,” the report by CRS, an independent research wing of the US Congress, which prepares periodic reports on issues of interest for lawmakers to take informed decisions, said.
It said Trump has encouraged India to play a greater role in Afghanistan’s economic development.
“This, along with other administrative messaging, has compounded Pakistani concerns over Indian activity in Afghanistan,” it said. Pakistan is keen to have a government friendly to its interests in Kabul, one that it can fall back on in times of war with India. And towards this end, it has been supporting the Taliban which has been engaged in a war with the US-backed government in Kabul. India, on its part, would like to see an administration that is not inimical to its interests in Afghanistan. Since 2001, India has pledged $ 3.1 billion mainly for development and reconstruction projects.
New Delhi has provided Afghanistan with four military attack helicopters and trained some of its military officers at its training facilities in India but has refused to commit troops to Afghanistan because of its rivalry with Pakistan.
“Pakistan’s security establishment, fearful of strategic encirclement by India, apparently continues to view the Afghan Taliban as a relatively friendly and reliably anti-India element in Afghanistan,” the CRS report said.
“India’s diplomatic and commercial presence in Afghanistan — and US rhetorical support for it — exacerbates Pakistani fears of encirclement. Indian interest in Afghanistan stems largely from India’s broader regional rivalry with Pakistan, which impedes Indian efforts to establish stronger and more direct commercial and political relations with Central Asia,” it said.
New Delhi has heaved a sigh of relief since Trump pulled the plug on peace talks that the US was having with Afghanistan after nine rounds earlier this month.
