Taliban seeks India help to tame economic woes

Taliban's Suhail Shaheen admits that matters relating to the resumption of the work of incomplete projects previously initiated by India are ongoing.

New Delhi, Dec 24: It has been more than a year now since the Taliban toppled the elected government in Afghanistan forcing US and other countries to shut their operations in the country. Several investments that India had done there all these years were left incomplete as it feared the safety and security of its people.

However, things are changing at a great pace as the dust settles in the troubled Afghanistan. The new rulers are facing huge challenges in the form of poverty, unemployment and almost no investments coming from any nation. In their desperation to bring in investments and continue the stalled projects, especially the ones that India started, Taliban is mending its way significantly.

Nonetheless, Taliban's Suhail Shaheen admits that matters relating to the resumption of the work of incomplete projects previously initiated by India are going on. He also assures for the security of Indian investments in Afghanistan.

India has an upper hand

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, Pakistan and China were the happiest countries. Especially, Pakistani media and their allies in India had started claiming that whatever investment that India under the Modi government had made in Afghanistan went down the drain after the Taliban took over. However, the way things have shaped in all these months, it appears India still holds a lot of options in protecting its interest in Afghanistan.

India has been a traditional partner with the civil governments of Afghanistan and invested quite heavily in major infrastructure projects in that country. Whether it was the Parliament building in Kabul or India-Afghanistan friendship dam in Herat, they were all built using Indian money, technology and human resources as well.

Taliban ensures complete security

To the disappointment of Pakistan and their defence experts, Taliban has ensured complete security for Indian investments in their country. Not just the Taliban government provided protection to Indians in the country but also invited India to open its diplomatic offices and bring along the team. Nonetheless, the Indian investment of more than USD 3 billion in Afghanistan is still not a dead investment, they will pay a huge dividend in the coming days.

India has also sought from Afghanistan that it must not allow its soil to be used for terror activities. Whereas Taliban is interested in keeping its government afloat with investments from India, the latter wants regional peace and tranquillity and assurance of security for its investments.