Sunday September 25, 2016
Kabul (BNA) India is among the countries where has always played effective role on Afghanistan, importantly in road-construction, mines and health sectors and providing higher education facilities to Afghans so far.
India has had old relations with Afghanistan, based on which its officials said their country wants to be part of a solution in Afghanistan and it supports the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
The Afghans expect those friend countries that have strategic relations with Afghanistan to honestly cooperate in restoring peace, security and regional stability and help the country beef up economically. Afghanistan has signed the first strategic agreement with India and it has been one of the greatest donor countries to Afghanistan over the last eleven years and has always cooperated in different fields, therefore, maintaining relations with such a power is undoubtedly in the interest of the country. In recent visit of Afghan-India leaders in New Delhi, both sides once again stressed on joint war against terrorism and called the phenomenon not only a serious threat to region but to the entire world countries as well.
Afghanistan has always made effort to maintain its goodwill and friendly relations not only with India but with all regional and world countries as well, and it expects the regional countries to appropriately treat with Afghanistan and observe the neighborhood relations.
Meanwhile, number of political and economic analysts calling relations with India in the benefit of Afghanistan and asked for bolstering relations between the two countries. There is no doubt that India has always honestly cooperated with Afghanistan, and its investment in the country can surely help beef up the country’s economy that will provide job opportunities to unemployed people—a move that can finally lead to ensuring security in the country. Because, having close relations with regional countries are in the benefit of Afghanistan and it can surely lead to economy development and creation of job opportunities on one hand and it can play significant role in restoring stability and security of the country on the other. Furthermore, the government of Afghanistan can keep balance its relations with regional countries, because without cooperation of the regional countries, ensuring peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region is impossible.
Now, Afghanistan enjoys a special position among the regional and world countries, and all of them are keen to invest in. Therefore, the government should pay serious heed so the countries trust in Afghanistan and also continue cooperation with it beyond 2016 as well.
Beside economic cooperation with Afghanistan, India has made much effort in training of the Afghan security forces and we hope the country is committed in the respect after 2016 as well. Likewise, India has played effective role in capacity building of the government employees and other organizations and annually many Afghans go to India for short-term and long-term scholarships to be professionally trained.
Likewise, those Afghans who sought refuge in India have never complained on Indian people behavior, indicating kindness and friendly relations of Indians before Afghans. Beside the U.S., Britain and Germany, India has considerably cooperated with Afghanistan in different fields as it has sponsored many infrastructural projects such as Salma Dam, construction of a road in Nimruz and new parliament building, etc. It is worth mentioning that since 2002, India has assisted more than $2bln to Afghanistan in different fields.
Suraya Raiszada
