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Central Asia
Afghanistan is located at the convergence of Central, Middle and South Asian regions, one of the most world prime geographical locations. Its strategic location and abundant mineral resources have always attracted international community including India. Hence Indian objectives to develop relations with Afghanistan are manifold and decades old. Indian foreign policy is devised by many factors like its bitter relations with Pakistan and its desire of access route to Central Asian Republics by limiting Pakistan’s reach that has serious implications for Pakistan. In view of its past experience, Pakistan perceives Indian extended desire to engage in Afghanistan as a deliberate strategy of using the later as a battleground to show its power and use influence against Pakistan. Terrorist incidents in Balochistan provide evidence and links with Indian RAW activities organized in Afghan areas. So, Indian intention to invest in Afghanistan for infrastructure rebuilding is not as simple as it ...
The tragic event of 9/11 changed not only the global political environment of the world but also altered the security and political environment of South Asian region. A change in Pakistan's foreign policy towards Afghanistan was witnessed. Since Pakistan's emergence as a separate independent state, its dispute with Afghanistan on Durand Line has substantially influenced the course of its foreign policy towards Afghanistan. The issues in Afghanistan directly affect Pakistan in the domain of politics, economics and society. The troubled relations between the two states gave a chance to India to win the sympathies of Afghanis after 9/11.India emerged as a strong regional player and established good relations with Afghanistan by helping them. To secure its interests in Afghanistan India also established good relations with Iran. They share some common motives. Both the countries abominate the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and feared of the exportation of militants to their own soil. So far friendly ties between India and Afghanistan always remain as a source of anxiety for Pakistan. India participated in Bonn Conference 2001 which underlined the base of political and constitutional structure for Afghanistan. India is regarded as a positive actor by most of Afghans contrary to Pakistan. The paper examines the strategic interests of India in Afghanistan and its subsequent impacts on Pakistan.
– Pakistan and Afghanistan are geo-politically and geo-strategically interlocked with each other and so the growing Indian influence in Afghanistan is a matter of serious concern for Pakistan. The affairs in Afghanistan directly affect Pakistan due to its location and cultural, historical, linguistic, religious and traditional ties; thus, Pakistan's strategic strength lies in a strong and stable Afghanistan. The conflict between traditional rivals in South Asia, India and Pakistan are coming to front with a new dimension in Afghanistan. Therefore, India is trying to achieve a significant soft role and make her presence justified there in order to achieve her broader objectives in Afghanistan. Although, there will remain a sizeable US presence in Afghanistan, but Indian presence is providing local socioeconomic infrastructure and civil, military and political services to promote peace and security in the war-torn country, which is a source of fear and anxiety for Pakistan. The article examines the strategic interests and the level of cooperation and influence of India in Afghanistan and its implications for Pakistan.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are geo-politically and geo-strategically interlocked with each other and so the growing Indian influence in Afghanistan is a matter of grave concern for Pakistan. The affairs in Afghanistan directly affect Pakistan due to its location cultural, historical, linguistic, religious and traditional ties; thus, Pakistan's strategic strength lies in a strong and stable Afghanistan. The conflict scenario between traditional rivals in South Asia, India and Pakistan are coming to front with a new dimension in Afghanistan. Therefore, India is trying to achieve a significant soft role and make her presence justified there in order to achieve her broader objectives via Afghanistan. Although, there will remain a sizeable US presence in Afghanistan, but Indian presence is providing local socioeconomic infrastructure and civil, military and political services to promote peace and sanctuary in the war-torn country, which is a sources of fear and anxiety for Pakistan. The paper examines the strategic interests and the level of cooperation and influence of India in Afghanistan and its implications for Pakistan.
Indo-Afghan Relationship and the Pakistan Conundrum, 2019
Since their independence, the two nations of India and Pakistan have been grappling for influence over their weaker neighbour, Afghanistan. It can be inferred that the relation between India and Afghanistan is not bilateral one but rather trilateral, as Pakistan has a great deal of influence over this relationship. India was the first country to sign a security pact with Afghanistan, the 2011 Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA). This was the outcome of the strong ties that both Afghanistan and India enjoy. However, since Pakistan has always strived to maintain a weak government in Afghanistan and one that is favourable to it, the growing influence of India in Afghanistan has been a major concern for Pakistan and is suspicious of an Indian encirclement. This paper analyses the cooperation between India and Afghanistan, and the rationale behind Pakistan's opposition to such cooperation.
Afghanistan and India has been emerged as close affiliates after the Incumbent Karzai regime. She has helped Afghanistan in infrastructural development, institutionalizing capacity building, small development projects, assistance in food procurement, imparting training to Afghanistan’s students on scholarships. India has signed Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) with Afghanistan in the year of 2011. All the neighbouring states and Pakistan as well have vested interests and key objectives in Afghanistan and to guard their interests and retain peace in the region. Afghanistan has been victim of regional and international hegemonic designs of Super Powers. It has great importance to outreach the Central Asian Republic States (CARS). India is trying to increase its influence in Afghanistan which is very much disturbing for Pakistan as India’s growing influence in Afghanistan is the strategic loss for Pakistan. The prevalent security dilemma has increased the mistrust between India and Pakistan. The increased influence of India in Afghanistan is rankling in the strategist’s minds of Pakistan as it debilitates the psychological advantages of Pakistan over India. The stable and tranquil Afghanistan is need of the hour for Pakistan as it is a gateway to Central Asia, South Asia and Middle East. The growing relationship of India with Afghanistan is vitiating the strategic depth paradigm of Pakistan.
The partition of British India in 1947 ruptured India’s geographical contiguity with Afghanistan but not the warmth that characterized their relations; this stood in sharp contrast to Pakistan which in spite of its geographical contiguity as well as religious and ethnic congruity has seen its relations with Kabul for most of its history being clouded by bitterness and a deep sense of distrust. India’s role in Afghanistan has re-emerged into importance not just for Afghanistan and the region, but also as “a test case for a rising power” – India. Afghanistan’s importance for India and others is largely geopolitical, Afghanistan faces southwards down from the Hindu Kush into the Indian subcontinent, India’s immediate neighbourhood. Yet it also looks northwards down from the Hindu Kush into India’s extended neighbourhood; in which “Afghanistan is the fractious gateway to and from Central Asia, which defines the way other powers grapple and circumvent the complexities of the region”, as well as being part of what has been called the “Greater Middle East”.
Asia Policy, 2014
Pakistan Journal of International Affairs, 2021
India always had cordial ties with Afghanistan except for the four years of the Taliban rule. September 11 replaced the planet's political and security structure and gave India a chance to enter Afghanistan. Afghanistan's strategic position attracts the global community and it is a gateway to energy-rich CARs. New Delhi's interest in Afghanistan is quite realistic. After the end of the Taliban government in 2001, India increased its influence in Kabul, attended the Bonn Conference, and pledged to support Afghan people in the rehabilitation process. New Delhi enjoyed cordial ties with democratically elected regimes in Afghanistan and promoted its relations with Tehran to protect its objectives in Kabul to contain Islamabad. India has infused a lot of money in several projects in Afghanistan to increase its impact in Afghanistan. The global community thinks India is effective advertising in Southern Asia, but Pakistan believes New Dehli's foot in Kabul threatens its se...
Samvaad 2020-21, 2021
The relationship between India and Afghanistan can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization. Afghanistan has been of huge geo-political significance to India as it has served as the latter’s gateway to Central Asia. India was the first South Asian country to formally recognise the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Since the Soviet-Afghan war, the region has been affected by terrorism and violence as a result of the rise of various fundamentalist groups. Taliban rose as a movement, overthrowing the Kabul Government and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [1996-2001]. The relationship between India and Afghanistan deteriorated with the advent of the Taliban regime. The US invasion of Afghanistan toppled the Taliban and this helped India to bring the bilateral relations back on track. Even though there was a Taliban insurgency in the later years, India provided assistance in various forms- infrastructure development, economic and humanitarian aid, etc. After almost two decades of conflicts and deliberations, the US signed a peace deal with Taliban on February 29, 2020. The agreement called for the withdrawal of US troops and in return, Taliban would prevent Afghan soil from being used for armed operations and also engage in talks with the Afghan government. The deal resulted in the Intra-Afgan talks on September 12, 2020 and India participated in the talks virtually. India reaffirmed its stand on the issue- “Any peace process must be Afghan-led, Afgan-owned and Afghan-controlled”. These turn of events have pointed at a shift in its foreign policy and a possibility of direct engagements with the Taliban. However, the withdrawal of US troops would create geopolitical and security challenges for India. Thus, the article would like to explore how India is set to improvise its strategies and continue its relations with Afghanistan.
Global Social Sciences Review
Indo-Afghan relations are developing with accelerated pace post 9/11. Indian increasing involvement in Afghanistan is a matter of grave concern for Pakistan. Indian investment in Afghanistan aims; to minimize Pakistan’s influence in Afghanistan, to create a soft image of India in Afghanistan and to access Central Asian Republic’s markets through Afghanistan. India is so far being successful in all of its objectives. India is investing in political, economic and social sectors in Afghanistan and successful in creating a soft image of Indians in Afghans heart. Keeping in view this scenario, study of this situation was a good case. India, Pakistan and Afghanistan all three have many observations regarding each other and none of them accept it. Due to the physical presence of United States in Afghanistan for more than a decade, peace in the area is still a dream come true. Therefore, it was an interesting study to understand the dynamics of Indo-Afghan relations and its implications for...
Afghanistan is a landlocked country in west Asia. It shares its boundaries with Iran Pakistan, Uzbekistan Tajikistan and China through a narrow strip of Wakhan valley. Throughout history Afghanistan remained instable due to its geography, week governments and foreign invasions. Afghanistan has an important geostrategic location, its neighboring countries mostly involved in its internal affairs to serve their own national interest. In history it played a role of buffer state between Czarist Russian Empire and British India. Afghanistan like its past once again became an important state of the region due to its proximity with CAR's region. Pakistan and India are also two important neighbor of Afghanistan. After 9/11, both these countries bitterly involved to strengthen their influence in Afghanistan and to minimize influence of the other. Its looks that Afghanistan has become a second battle ground for both India and Afghanistan after the battleground of Kashmir. There are speculations that both India and Pakistan busy in proxy war against each other in Afghanistan. Both are trying to get their hold strong in Afghanistan and to minimize the role of her adversary. After 9/11, India became successful to enhance its influence in Afghanistan which has direct impact on Pakistan. This paper is going to discuss that how India has become successful in strengthening her influence in Afghanistan and what will be its repercussion for Pakistan.
As the coalition forces prepare to exit Afghanistan, concerns regarding peace and stability in the country and future power balance after their departure are becoming paramount. While there will be a considerable American presence, focus has now shifted to local infrastructure and services -civil, military and political and their ability to further peace and progress in the country. Owing to the geostrategic landscape of Afghanistan, in addition to its long conflict ridden history with a significant presence of the Taliban, concerns regarding revival of conflict and violence are coming to the fore -particularly from traditional South Asian rivals i.e. India and Pakistan. Through an in-depth study of the political, economic, cultural and regional dimensions of this tri-lateral relationship, the following paper examines how there is a significant clash of interests and how there can cooperation between India and Pakistan in Afghanistan.
This paper examines India and Pakistan geopolitical and geo-economic interests in post 9/11 Afghanistan. The state of Afghanistan possesses geo-political and geo-economic opportunities and challenges for both the state. The rivalry and competition between the two South Asian neighbours are shaping in the state of Afghanistan. The Geo-political and geo-economic interests of both states are in divergence with each other. The fault lines of competition between India and Pakistan are transformed to geo-economic influence in Afghanistan and beyond. The state of Afghanistan represents a land bridge and potential energy corridor for India and Pakistan. Therefore, this study highlights the divergent geo-economic interests along with geo-politics in Afghanistan. It is argued that geo-economic has emerged as a new pattern of rivalry between India and Pakistan in Afghanistan. Both states is using geo-economic along with geo-political parameters and interests in a spiral context and reinforcing themselves with the evolving scenarios.
This paper will analyse the Indian engagement in Afghanistan as soft power since September 11, and its impact on Pakistan. This approach has threatened Pakistan as Pakistan does not want India's stable and peaceful relations with Afghanistan. Pakistan's wants to destabilize Indo-Afghan relations due to her covert relations with afghan's non-state actors. Since 2001, Afghanistan's Foreign Policy towards New Delhi is quite receptive. India has growing stakes in peace and stability in Afghanistan. India's activities in Afghanistan had a geo-strategic flavour though, which not only confine to Afghanistan but travel deep into Central Asia. It is now widely accepted that India's Afghan policy seeks access to energy resources of the region. If India-Pakistan-Afghanistan cooperates by recognizing one another as opportunities not as threat, the level of trust deficit will minimize and a new era of peace will like to see.
2010
Abstract: This report outlines India's current interests in Afghanistan, how it has sought to achieve these aims, and the consequences of these actions for India, Pakistan, and the international efforts to stabilize Pakistan. It argues that India's interests in Afghanistan are not only Pakistan-specific but also, equally, if not more important, tied to India's desire to be, and to be seen, as an extra-regional power moving toward great power status. This argument is elaborated in several parts.
South Asian Studies, 2015
AbstractAs the coalition forces prepare to exit Afghanistan, concerns regarding peace and stability in the country and future power balance after their departure are becoming paramount. While there will be a considerable American presence, focus has now shifted to local infrastructure and services - civil, military and political and their ability to further peace and progress in the country. Owing to the geostrategic landscape of Afghanistan, in addition to its long conflict ridden history with a significant presence of the Taliban, concerns regarding revival of conflict and violence are coming to the fore - particularly from traditional South Asian rivals i.e. India and Pakistan. Through an in-depth study of the political, economic, cultural and regional dimensions of this tri-lateral relationship, the following paper examines how there is a significant clash of interests and how there can cooperation between India and Pakistan in Afghanistan.Key Words: Afghanistan, Taliban, India-...
2013
The India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership signed on October 04, 2011 was the first agreement that Afghanistan has formally entered into with any country to reconstruct Afghanistan, help guarantee its security and is linked with the drawdown of US forces from Afghanistan. Afghanistan views the strong ties with India as a means to assuage the sense of insecurity and capable of assisting the war-torn nation to stabilize the helpless nation on account of the debilitating power struggle anticipated in the power vacuum following the withdrawal in 2014 of the US and NATO forces. Pakistan is concern about the agreement and is quite suspicious of encirclement by India. Perspectives of three countries i.e., India, Afghanistan and Pakistan on India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership 2011 are attempted to analyze in the present article.
International Journal of Political Science and Development , 2016
After World War II, the tragedy of 9/11 is the single event that changed the global security pattern. USA enter into Afghanistan with the purpose of combating terrorism. The presence of NATO and USA in Afghanistan make that region not only media attentive but also it has made Afghanistan to became path way for regional and international powers to attain their own objectives and in promotion of their interests. 9/11 incident has initiated a great game in the region. Afghanistan is being involved in this global game. With the US advancement in Afghanistan India got chance to endorse its own interests and develop image of soft power in the world. Since India had legitimate strategic interests in Afghanistan not only because of the geographical intactness but also being crucial for its expanding economy as well as a path way between India and the energy rich Central Asian Republics. In this backdrop India has joined the international community's efforts in rebuilding Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 and is actively involved in bringing and maintenance of peace and prosperity in the region. In this article an attempt has been made to explore the concerns and interests that motivate India's recent efforts to step up its engagement in Afghanistan; and the future prospects of India's Afghanistan involvement. Cite This Article As: Akther N, Malik AH (2016). India's Involvement in Afghanistan: An Analytic Perspective of Current Interests and Future Prospects. Inter. J. Polit. Sci. Develop. 4(8): 286-292
CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research - Zenodo, 2020
Since the defeat of Taliban in Afghanistan, India not only has drawn much closer to Afghanistan but has also provided over USD 3 billion of development assistance to Afghanistan since 2001. Although India's development partnership with Afghanistan dates back decades earlier and was built on longstanding historical, cultural and civilizational links prior to India's 1947 independence. Building on a long history of bilateral relations India continued its willingness to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan since 2001. The bilateral ties have particularly strengthened since the 2011 signing of India-Afghanistan strategic partnership agreement to reconstruct Afghanistan. India is largest regional and fifth largest donor country to Afghanistan. India's involvement in Afghanistan is not only for its strategic reason but to secure access to natural resources in competition with China and to push back Pakistani influence by containing Taliban influence in the country. In order to cement its strategy of regional collaboration and economic investment in Afghanistan India has also increased its engagement with some of Afghanistan's neighbours to counteract centrifugal militant and external forces. The historic documents of strategic partnership although a symbol of mutual trust and confidence between the two nations has also served to introduce a new turn and dimension to the already geo-political situation in the region, has added a new twist to the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan. The paper highlights the geo-strategic and geopolitical importance of Afghanistan interms of regional security and examines India's role in Afghanistan's stability and constructions efforts. Furthermore the paper also high lights India-Afghanistan relation with a special focus on India's development cooperation. INDIA AND AFGHANISTAN: A LONG HISTORY OF BILATERAL RELATIONS A landlocked mountainous country with plains in the north and southwest, Afghanistan is located within South Asia and Central Asia. 1 Historically the country has been a land bridge to India from the west and also has a common history, with several empires having encompassed areas of present day Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Though India has provided over USD 3 billion of development assistance to Afghanistan since 2001, but its development partnership with Afghanistan dates back decades earlier and was built on longstanding historical, cultural and civilizational links prior to India's 1947 independence. Both countries already had a close relationship during the anti-colonial movement of British India under Mahatma Ghandi and a similar nationalist Frontier Congress movement in Pashtun areas straddling what today is Afghanistan and Pakistan under Ab Ghaffar Khan, or "Frontier Ghandi". 2 Afghanistan's importance for India is clear from the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's statement about India's relations with Afghanistan:
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