Aiding Afghanistan

ON BOTH HUMANITARIAN AND STRATEGIC GROUNDS, INDIA MUST PROVIDE SUCCOUR TO ORDINARY AFGHANS

In what was India’s second official-level contact with Taliban after it returned to power in Afghanistan, the Islamist group revealed that new Delhi had offered to provide extensive humanitarian assistance. While the Indian side is yet to confirm this, humanitarian assistance for ordinary Afghan citizens isn’t a bad idea. After all, the situation in Afghanistan is dire today with supplies of essentials running low. The country’s economy is in a mess with its foreign reserves frozen by the US and IMF. In fact, Afghan civil servants and medics have not been paid in months, and the WHO last month said that 90% of its 2,300 health clinics across Afghanistan risked shutting down.

Sending aid to Afghanistan is complicated by the fact that Taliban’s interim government is yet to be internationally recognised and comprises members who are proscribed as terrorists. But Afghan citizens shouldn’t be made to suffer because their previously elected government fled. Plus, if the humanitarian crisis exacerbates, the fallout will be on neighbouring countries who will not only have to deal with a further exodus of Afghan refugees, but also a worsening security situation in Afghanistan.

True, totally bypassing Taliban in aid delivery may not be possible. But the aim ought to be to encourage the group to reform, respect human rights and become inclusive. Plus, India needs to aggressively cultivate strategic options in Afghanistan to blunt the impact on Indian Occupied Kashmir, which is witnessing a new phase of terrorism. Thus, a twotrack approach where ordinary Afghans are helped and Taliban incentivised is the best way forward. In this regard, India would do well to restart normal processing of medical and student visas for Afghans. This will help preserve the huge goodwill India enjoys in that country, even as it works out a new equation with Taliban.