ABSTRACT
India has long-standing ties with Afghanistan, and the country has played a major role in reconstruction activities in Afghanistan after the ousting of the Taliban. India’s assistance has included economic and sociocultural activities. India constructed Afghanistan’s new parliament building but has also established a network of medical clinics in many parts of the country. There is a clear geopolitical element to Indian assistance and to the manner of that assistance. Initially, the West tried to engage with Pakistan, thereby sidelining India (as recently as 2010, India was excluded from a major conference on Afghanistan). This meant that India was often absent from multilateral assistance dialogues and thereby developed its own bilateral programme. Furthermore, tension with Pakistan meant that part of India’s assistance has been spent constructing alternative transport routes via Iran.
