The centre on Tuesday told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs that the implementation of the Indian projects in Afghanistan has suffered setbacks due to the political and security situation in the Taliban-ruled country.
The Afghan republic collapsed in August last year after the Taliban took over the country.
India has been one of the largest development partners in Kabul with over five hundred projects spread across each of the 34 provinces of the country in critical areas of power, water supply, road connectivity, healthcare, education, agriculture and capacity building.
The Committee in its 19th Report had said that the budgetary allocation under the head ‘Aid to Afghanistan’ has seen a downward trend from Rs 350 crore in Budget Estimates 2021-22 to Rs. 200 crore in 2022-23.
The Committee added that in the given political scenario in Afghanistan, majority of countries, including India, have halted their projects in Afghanistan.
Expressing happiness that New Delhi has been steadily providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people including food-grains and medical assistance, the committee recommended that Ministry of External Affairs should continuously monitor the situation and continue providing humanitarian assistance to Afghan people.
The Ministry responded that it has noted the observations of the Committee and would work towards the same. It said that several proposals in this regard are already under process. The Comments of the Ministry comes days after Taliban claimed India may restart 20 stalled projects in the country.
According to Tolo News, The Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MUDH) of Afghanistan said that the Indian charges d’affaires, Bharat Kumar had expressed India’s interest in improving relations and the resumption of Delhi’s projects in Afghanistan. These remarks were reportedly made in a meeting with the Minister of Urban Development and Housing, Hamdullah Nomani.
New Delhi had to stop all its projects post-Taliban taking over the reins of power in 2021. Earlier this year India sent it “technical team” to the country to oversee the implementation of humanitarian projects. The team is seen as the de facto Indian mission in the country whose functioning was suspended after the Taliban takeover.
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