Indiaafghanistan RelationsEdit
India–Afghanistan relations are defined by a practical convergence of interests in security, development, and regional stability. Across centuries of contact and upheaval, the two countries have navigated a complex neighborhood to build a cooperative partnership that aims at reducing insecurity, expanding commerce, and strengthening state capacity in both capitals. In the contemporary era, New Delhi has framed its engagement with Kabul around four core pillars: helping Afghanistan rebuild after decades of conflict, ensuring that Afghan territory cannot be used to project cross-border threats, promoting regional connectivity that bypasses hostile choke points, and fostering people-to-people ties that anchor long-run friendship. This orientation has shaped a relationship that is at once pragmatic and transformative, anchored by concrete projects and resilient diplomacy.
India–Afghanistan ties are inseparable from the broader history of South Asia, where ancient and modern connections intersect. The Gandhara region and the shared legacies of Buddhism and trade created early ties between communities that later formed distinct nations. In the modern period, the two countries pursued a relationship that reflected both friendship and a clear interest in regional order. After the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, India emerged as a steady partner in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, channeling aid and expertise into infrastructure, governance, and social sector development. This era saw the laying of durable foundations—from roads and power projects to institutions that could sustain a democratic order. The diplomacy surrounding these efforts has frequently run through multilateral forums and bilateral channels, with Kabul and New Delhi linking up through capitals like Kabul and New Delhi to advance shared outcomes. The bilateral relationship is thus a composite of development projects, strategic dialogue, and a relatively stable political partnership that has weathered shifting regional alignments.
History
The historical arc of India–Afghanistan relations stretches from ancient trade routes to modern statecraft. In recent decades, Afghanistan’s political transitions have been pivotal in shaping how India positions itself. The post-2001 period represents a decisive chapter in which India positioned itself as a reliable partner in Afghanistan’s reconstruction and state-building efforts. The bilateral relationship was reinforced by a mix of financial aid, technical assistance, and infrastructure diplomacy that sought to strengthen Afghan sovereignty while reducing the space for extremist actors to operate. Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, became a focal point for high-level engagement, and Indian engineers, experts, and engineers contributed to projects intended to expand the country’s capacity to govern and grow. Key infrastructure initiatives—such as the Zaranj–Delaram Highway and major hydroelectric or water-management projects—illustrated a forward-looking strategy to connect Afghanistan to regional markets while ensuring secure and reliable routes for commerce and energy. In parallel, Afghan institutions benefited from capacity-building programs, which aimed to create a more robust governance framework capable of withstanding political and security shocks. The relationship thus evolved from humanitarian and developmental cooperation to a broader partnership rooted in security and economic connectivity. The involvement of Chabahar port in nearby Iran also provided a corridor that linked Afghanistan to maritime trade, enabling access to markets beyond land routes and reinforcing the pragmatic, market-oriented edge of the partnership.
The security environment of the region has been a defining constraint and driver of bilateral engagement. India’s policy has consistently stressed that Afghanistan’s stability is inseparable from South Asia’s stability. India’s support for Afghan security-sector development—within the bounds of international norms and Afghan ownership—has included training, equipment, and advisory assistance designed to bolster Afghan capacity to counter terrorism and internal disruption. The evolution of Afghanistan’s political landscape, including the rise of the Taliban and subsequent changes in governance, has required a recalibration of engagement strategies. While India has sought to maintain channels of dialogue and humanitarian relief, it has also emphasized the importance of safeguarding its own regional perimeter. The dynamic balance between engagement and prudence has characterized a relationship that is unusually durable given the volatility of the broader neighborhood.
Economic and development ties
Economic ties are the most visible face of India–Afghanistan relations and reflect a core belief that lasting regional stability rests on tangible improvements in people’s lives. Indian investments in Afghanistan have emphasized infrastructure, energy, and human capital. The Zaranj–Delaram Highway, financed and closely supervised by Indian partners, created a vital corridor that linked landlocked Afghanistan to neighboring markets, improving trade flows and reducing transit times. The Salma Dam, in Herat Province, stands as a prominent symbol of India’s development assistance—a large-scale hydroelectric project that contributed to Afghanistan’s electricity generation and water management. In the capital and provincial hubs, Indian engineers and project managers contributed to capacity-building in public works, urban development, and technical sectors essential for the functioning of a modern state.
Beyond hard infrastructure, India’s assistance extended to governance and social development. Educational programs, healthcare initiatives, and capacity building for Afghan institutions have been part of a broader strategy to empower Afghanistan’s civil society and government machinery. The broader objective remains clear: to help Afghanistan achieve self-sufficiency and resilience so that it can deter extremist networks, manage its borders, and participate more fully in regional commerce. The Chabahar corridor, anchored by cooperation with Iran, has provided a complementary route for Afghan traders to access sea lanes, diversifying Afghanistan’s logistical options and reducing overreliance on any single overland route. These multi-pronged efforts illustrate a practical, results-oriented approach to development that seeks to align Afghan growth with regional opportunity.
Both countries have framed these efforts within a regional context. Afghanistan’s integration into regional supply chains and energy networks—via corridors that pass through Iran and Central Asia—has been a strategic priority for New Delhi. The aim is not mere philanthropy or sentiment; it is a clear test of sovereignty and economic viability. A stable, prosperous Afghanistan enhances regional revenue and reduces the risk of cross-border disruption spilling over into India’s own security perimeter. In this sense, the relationship with Afghanistan complements India’s broader approach to regional connectivity, which includes engagement with South Asia and Central Asia, and aligns with the interests of other major powers that advocate for predictable and rules-based regional trade. The diplomatic calculus therefore emphasizes both development and strategic depth, with an emphasis on tangible outcomes that can be measured in bridges, power lines, and governance reforms.
Security and strategic cooperation
Security cooperation has been a central pillar of India–Afghanistan relations. India has argued that a stable Afghanistan is essential to preventing the sanctuary of terrorist networks that could threaten regional peace or domestic security in South Asia. This logic underpins training programs for Afghan security forces, intelligence-sharing arrangements, and counterterrorism cooperation that aim to disrupt extremist networks before they can plan and execute attacks. While the presence of various militant actors in and around Afghanistan has complicated the security equation, India has maintained a stable and predictable posture that seeks to balance engagement with insistence on Afghan sovereignty and regional accountability.
Afghan security, border management, and the fight against illicit trafficking have been intertwined with India’s strategic interests in the region. The relationship rests on the conviction that a capable Afghan state is less vulnerable to external meddling, and that a durable peace requires credible security guarantees, economic opportunity, and effective governance. In this framework, India’s security policy toward Afghanistan has combined defense cooperation with development assistance, recognizing that security gains are inseparable from economic and political progress.
The trajectory of regional security policy has involved broader conversations with partners such as the United States and other regional actors. India has used these conversations to advocate for a stable security architecture in South Asia and to promote norms that deter cross-border violence and terrorism. The interplay between Afghanistan’s internal political developments and regional security dynamics has required constant recalibration, a challenge that India has met with steady diplomacy and a focus on concrete outcomes. The goal remains to build a security framework in which Afghan institutions can sustain themselves, resist despair and violence, and participate more fully in regional markets and governance processes.
Controversies and debates
India’s engagement in Afghanistan has sparked debate among observers who emphasize different priorities and interpret regional dynamics through contrasting lenses. Supporters argue that India’s approach represents prudent statecraft: it channels resources into infrastructure and capacity-building that yield durable benefits for Afghan citizens, while reducing the leverage of extremist groups that have historically exploited inter-state vulnerabilities. From this vantage, the investments are legitimacy-building and security-enhancing rather than colonial or self-serving dominance. The investment in Afghan sovereignty and resilience is presented as a natural extension of India’s security and economic interests: a stable neighbor is a secure and prosperous one.
Critics and skeptics—both within the region and beyond—sometimes argue that India’s role in Afghanistan amounts to strategic leverage or influence that bypasses genuine Afghan sovereignty. They contend that external powers should refrain from shaping Afghanistan’s political trajectory and that incentives provided through large-scale infrastructure bids may create dependencies or distort local governance. Proponents of a more minimal state approach reject this view, arguing that Afghanistan’s security and development require credible commitments from capable partners, and that a declining level of engagement would risk letting malign actors fill the vacuum. The debate also touches on the broader question of regional influence: India’s relationships with Afghanistan are often discussed in parallel with Pakistan’s influence in the same country, raising questions about how to balance competing interests without undermining Afghan autonomy or triggering instability in South Asia.
From a contemporary policy perspective, some critics charge that “soft power” projects, even when well-intentioned, can drift toward being perceived as political leverage. Proponents of the engagement contend that the alternative—ambiguous commitments or strategic withdrawal—carries a higher security cost: a vacuum that could be filled by actors with incompatible agendas. In this framing, a robust, well-governed, and prosperous Afghanistan is a common interest that justifies sustained, disciplined engagement—especially given the region’s history of volatility and the high stakes of cross-border terrorism. When confronted with critiques about neocolonialism or moralizing narratives, advocates of this approach argue that the practical benefits—improved governance, infrastructure, and security—far outweigh aspirational critiques, and that the overall project is consistent with a realist understanding of power and security in a contested neighborhood.
The controversies around Afghanistan policy often intersect with broader debates about regional order, international engagement, and the proper role of outside actors in sovereign states. Critics of any external involvement warn against overreach and demand caution about mission creep. Supporters insist that in a volatile region, steadfast commitments and measurable gains are preferable to the risk of strategic abandonment. In both cases, the underlying question remains: how to secure a stable, prosperous Afghanistan without compromising the sovereignty and security interests of neighboring states, including India. The debates reflect a larger negotiation about how great-power interests intersect with the needs and wishes of Afghan communities, and how to translate tendencies toward influence into durable, legitimate state-building that endures beyond any single administration or geopolitical moment.
See also discussions of how these tensions play out in related areas of policy and diplomacy, and how other regional players—such as Iran and other neighbors—interact with Afghanistan’s trajectory through channels like the Chabahar port corridor and regional security pacts. The practical takeaway is that this is a case study in how a neighbor can contribute to stability through a blend of infrastructure, diplomacy, and disciplined security cooperation, while navigating a landscape of legitimate sovereignty concerns and competing regional interests.