Taliban is extending the hand of friendship towards India, is there a conspiracy of deception on the other side?

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The Taliban government of Afghanistan has surprised the whole world by making an announcement on 30th November. Taliban said that India can restart its stalled projects in this country. On the other hand, when Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan i.e. TTP has opened a front against Pakistan in India’s neighboring country, in such a situation, Taliban’s invitation to India is saying a lot.

In fact, on November 28, TTP’s Defense Chief Mufti Mujahim announced the end of the ceasefire against the Pakistani government through a letter, and a day later, the world is smelling a conspiracy in the positive attitude of the Afghan Taliban towards India.

The former officials of the intelligence department of this country have also warned India about Taliban extending a hand of friendship towards India. He says that Taliban-ruled Afghanistan may improve relations with India, but it should not neglect its security at any cost. In such a situation, the question arises that what does the Taliban want from India?

Why is Taliban taking interest in India?

The Taliban said on Wednesday that India can restart 20 stalled projects in Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s news channel Tolo News quoted Afghanistan’s Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MUDH) as saying, “India is expected to resume work on at least 20 projects in several provinces of the country.

MUDH spokesperson Mohammad Kamal Afghan also said, “These projects were implemented during the previous government, but were delayed due to political changes or other issues. They are now interested in restarting these projects.” In fact, India built the Afghan Parliament in Kabul for $90 million. A block in this building has been named after former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

 

Meanwhile “Pajwok Afghan News said that the acting minister of urban development and land affairs Maulvi Hamdullah Nomani has appealed to the business community of India to invest in the urban development sector of Afghanistan. The ministry wrote on its Twitter handle that the acting minister Nomani met Bharat Kumar, Charge d’Affairs (Deputy Ambassador) of the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

During this, Acting Minister Nomani said, “Indian businessmen can invest in the urban and residential sector, especially in the New Kabul City project.” Numani further said, “India has worked on some projects in Afghanistan in the past, some of them remained incomplete due to non-payment.” He also asked the Government of India to clear its stand regarding the incomplete projects.

During the meeting, Afghan minister Maulvi Hamdullah Nomani appealed to the Indian deputy ambassador to contribute towards upskilling and enhancing the skills of Afghan engineers in the civil and urban development sector. For this, a demand has been made to give scholarship to Afghan citizens for master’s and PhD degree.

If the report of TOLO News is to be believed, MUDH said that India’s Charges the Affair Kumar has shown interest in improving relations and restarting Delhi’s projects in Afghanistan. Deputy Ambassador Kumar said this in a meeting with Afghanistan’s Urban Development and Housing Minister Hamdullah Nomani in Kabul.

Afghan residents, newspapers, economists also have hope

According to TOLO News, economists in Afghanistan believe that the resumption of projects will increase job opportunities here and boost development in the country. Daria Khan Bahir, an Afghan economist, says, “The restoration of these projects can also create employment opportunities for the people and increase the income of the Afghan people and lead Afghanistan out of political isolation.”

Economist Nazkamir Zirmal said, “The resumption of these projects will reduce the level of poverty and unemployment. Afghans believe that implementing the projects will increase job opportunities, reduce poverty and unemployment, and bring prosperity to the country.” Development will get a boost.

What is India’s stand?

India’s Charges the Affair (Vice Ambassador) Bharat Kumar said that Afghanistan’s MUDH ministry can share information about all the mentioned projects. He will send a message to the Government of India requesting them to solve their problems and make all the projects ready for use. He further said that he has got some information about the new Kabul project and he will definitely talk to the Indian investors about them.

In fact, after the Taliban came to power in August 2021, India had to stop all its projects in Afghanistan. After this, India had closed its embassy here. This embassy has started working here again a few months ago. However here in India there is still concern about security issues. Recently, Islamic State terrorists targeted several civilian projects, religious places and the Russian Embassy here.

India’s project in Afghanistan

In fact, before the Taliban government came to power in Afghanistan, India had invested about three billion dollars in development and capacity building projects here. In 2016, the inauguration of the 42 megawatt (42MW) Salma Dam in Herat province was one of the important projects run with the help of India in Afghanistan. It is known as the Afghan-India Friendship Dam.

Other high-profile projects here include the 218-km Zaranj-Delaram highway built by the Border Roads Organization of India. Zaranj is a place close to Afghanistan’s border with Iran. India has also built the Afghan Parliament in Kabul for $90 million. In 2016, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the Store Palace, which was opened after renovation in Kabul. It was built at the end of the 19th century.

India has also built an important hospital in Kabul. In the past, India has been helping in human resource development, training professionals and offering a large number of scholarships and admissions to Afghan students to study in India. Most of the Indian projects launched here are for the benefit of the people in all the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Their aim was to make it a self-sufficient country. India has started Air Freight Corridor and Chabahar Port to increase regional connectivity with Afghanistan.

At present, India has been very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. This is the reason why India has also given humanitarian help to Afghanistan. Of these, 40,000 meters