New Delhi not to take up new projects in Afghanistan

Modi to inagurate Salma dam at Herat today

India will step up its security assistance to Afghanistan to help fight Taliban, but will not take up any new major development project in the war-torn country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President M Ashraf Ghani will inaugurate the Salma Dam at Herat province of Afghanistan on Saturday. Though India has been deeply involved with reconstruction of Afghanistan, it is unlikely to embark on any new big development project in that country immediately. New Delhi, however, will continue to fund small development projects in Afghanistan.

Modi will convey to Ghani New Delhi’s willingness to step up support to Kabul to augment the capability of the Afghan National Security and Defence Force, which is now at the forefront of the war against Taliban, Islamic State and other terrorist outfits after the withdrawal of the US-led International Security Assistance Force.

Though New Delhi prefers to keep its security assistance to Kabul under wraps, sources said that India remained fully committed to supporting Afghanistan for strengthening its defensive capabilities in order to preserve its unity and territorial integrity and ensuring security of its people. New Delhi and Kabul are already discussing possibility of increasing and expanding training opportunities for Afghan National Security and Defence Forces personnel in relevant institutions in India, of course based on the requirements of Afghanistan, sources told DH.

The dam, which Modi will inaugurate on Saturday, was built by the WAPCOS Limited, a Government of India undertaking, on the Chist-e-Sharif river at Herat province of Afghanistan. The Afghan-India Friendship Dam has the capacity of generating 42 mw of power and irrigating 75,000 hectares of land apart from providing water supply and other benefits to the people of Afghanistan.

India spent over Rs 1,775 crore to build the dam in Afghanistan The WAPCOS Limited took over 10 years to build the dam, with the remoteness of the site and security situation being the primary reasons for the delay in implementing the project.