Ties between India and Afghanistan are old and strong. The basis of the relationship is mutual respect and not economic favors, although one can't deny that economics is playing an ever-increasing role in this partnership just like it does in any other on the global stage.

India was the only South Asian country and the first non-communist country to recognize the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in the 1980’s. India also aided the overthrow of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Henceforth, India has emerged as the largest regional provider of humanitarian and reconstruction aid to the country.

India invests in Afghanistan, and so do other nations like the US. But the manner of investment and the projects that India takes up are what strikes the right cord with the Afghans. Before I start off about India's involvement in Afghanistan in a diverse range of fields such as trade, commerce, infrastructure and defence, here's an astonishing fact - India has invested about $2 billion in Afghanistan whereas America has invested a whopping $50 billion. I'll come back to this point later to vindicate the title of my article.

Investment/Infrastructure/Aid

• India has invested in power projects, mines, has built over 400 miles of road, has built over 200 public and private schools and sponsored over a 1,000 scholarships. It constructed a bronze Parliament, and even an India-Afghan ‘friendship’ dam.
• In 2016, Prime Minister Modi announced an additional aid of $1 billion.
• The first consignment of 1.1 million tonnes of wheat India had committed to providing Afghanistan reached Zaranj through the Chabahar port and the Indian-built Delaram-Zaranj highway from the Iran border. India will continue to send such wheat shipments in the near future.

Defence

• In 2015-16, India gave 4 Mi-25 attack helicopters and 3 Cheetah utility helicopters to Afghanistan as part of a strategic partnership to counter the Taliban and aid in relief activities.
• India has trained over 4,000 Afghan military and police personnel.
• India is now looking to buy an undisclosed number of Russian-made Mi-35s 'Hind-E' assault helicopters from an undisclosed Eastern European country which it will then donate to Afghanistan.
• Now, for the first time, the Indian Army will train a group of Afghan women military personnel at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai.

Trade

• Bilateral trade has almost doubled in a decade to $680 million in 2015.
• India and Afghanistan have now quickened and expanded trade through the Chabahar Port which is an India-Iran-Afghanistan venture.
• The two nations will now open the second air corridor for trade next Wednesday.

Humanitarian aid

• Roughly around 4,000 Indian personnel are carrying out aid and construction projects.

Why money can't buy happiness

'India has invested about $2 billion in Afghanistan whereas America has invested a whopping $50 billion', is what I'd written above. Seeing that America has invested 25 times the amount that India has, it won't be extravagant to assume that Afghans trust and like America more than India owing to the fact that they must have been able to create a much greater impact with their humongous investment. But that is far from the truth.

• Matiullah Kharoti, a political analyst in Afghanistan, says, "We have a long history of relations between Afghanistan and India. India is our only neighbor who doesn’t interfere in our internal affairs." He goes on to say, "Afghans love India. In my experience India is better at implementing projects that the US. American projects suffer from inefficiency and bad planning."
• Afghan youth are involved in working on Indian medical and infrastructure projects. One of them had to say, “They (India) are working in Afghanistan on basic things like dams, roads and other things. But America doesn’t. Also whenever India starts a work or project here they complete it.”
• The prevailing view, or rather a complaint amongst Afghan people is that American projects are inefficient and poorly-funded. On the other hand, India is better at developing projects that the Afghans want and appreciate.
• In a poll conducted in 2011, 1 in 2 Afghans wanted the US to leave the country, whereas 3 in 4 Afghans wanted India to take its place.
• The Afghans consider India a more trustworthy friend and according to a poll, approve of an Indian leadership that an American or Chinese one.

And which is why I say that India and Afghanistan's ties are beyond money. Coming to a burning question at hand - Should India place troops in Afghanistan? Answer - a big NO. Doing so has severe downsides and no clear advantages. Let's discuss them in brief -

• Economic costs - India is a developing economy and has numerous serious problems to tackle within the borders, primary of which is poverty. India also doesn't have the economic space to take up another very much avoidable cost on its shoulders in the form of an ongoing war as it already has to invest much more in its forces and to tackle China's 'string of pearls' strategy.
• Preoccupation of forces - Indian Armed Forces have their hands full. Dealing with Chinese aggression on the border; retaliating to Pakistani misadventures; fighting terrorism within the borders; countering the menacing threat of Left Wing Extremism; aid work during natural calamities, and more. In such a situation, to push the forces into an alien war in Afghanistan will be nothing but foolishness.
• Unwarranted casualties - Do the people who advocate Indian boots on ground in Afghanistan ignore the possibility of casualties to our troops? The day even one soldier gets killed will be the day when the government will be hounded and held responsible for the casualty by the very people who earlier supported sending troops.
• Damage ties with Russia - Ever since India's entry into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, India and Russia have increased cooperation in Afghanistan. If India sends troops in Afghanistan on US insistence, then India will effectively go against Russia which will harm India's overall ties with Russia. This is one thing India can't afford because for India Russia is more trustworthy than the US any day.
• Iran-India ties will suffer - India's rising involvement in Afghanistan is with Iran's help through the Chabahar Port. At present, US-Iranian ties are probably at their lowest. For India to move and take such an immense decision to commit troops to the war at US insistence will be disastrous for India geopolitically. This is something again India can least afford.

Despite the fact that Afghanistan’s future has implications on India, the ongoing war is not India’s war, and to make it so will be a blunder beyond repair on numerous fronts. Even the US isn’t able to exit this war, and this war has proven to be the longest in its history with still no ending on the horizon. I applaud Prime Minister Modi for not succumbing to US pressure to send troops to Afghanistan and following a foreign policy that he sees fit for India.