India-Afghanistan Friendship Dam (Salma Dam). The Dam has an installed capacity of 42 MW and supplies water for irrigating 75,000 hectares of land.

India rejects Trump's jibe at PM over funding for library in Afghanistan

NEW DELHI: India has asserted that its projects worth $3 bn in Afghanistan speaks for itself and has regretted the ignorance of American officials after President Donald Trump mocked PM Narendra Modi over the utility of Delhi sponsored "library" in the landlocked country.

President Trump on Wednesday mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for funding a library in Afghanistan, saying he doesn’t know how many use it.

Meanwhile, India hopes to have meaningful consultations with US envoy for Taliban peace talks Zalmay Khalilzad during his possible visit here next week for Raisina Dailogue. Khalilzad had twice skipped visiting India since November and Delhi was particularly not satisfied with India not being adequately consulted on Afghan reconciliation efforts.

The Indian government justified its development partnership with Afghanistan instead of boots on the ground. "India firmly believes in the critical role that developmental assistance can play in transforming human lives. India does not send its armed forces abroad except under the specific mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Operations," sources told ET.

In Afghanistan, India plays a significant role as a development partner, they said. "This partnership is built on the specific needs and requirements worked out with the Government of Afghanistan. It is aimed at the welfare of the people of Afghanistan and for a tangible improvement in the lives of its people," a source said, adding, "India seeks to build capacities and capabilities of Afghan nationals and its institutions for governance and delivery of public service, develop Socio-economic infrastructure, secure lives and promote livelihood."

While stating that he got along with Modi, Trump said Modi was “constantly telling me he built a library in Afghanistan”.

“You know what that is? That’s like five hours of what we spend,” Trump said. “And we’re supposed to say, ‘Oh, thank you for the library.’ I don’t know who’s using it in Afghanistan,” Trump said.

It was unclear which project Trump was referring to, but India has committed $3 billion in assistance to Afghanistan since 2001. An Afghan civil society member Parwiz Kawa said that Trump may have confused the Parliament building with the library.

Indian projects have included the reconstruction of an elite high school in Kabul and scholarships to India for 1,000 Afghan students each year. India considers these as important steps as soft power connect along with Bollywood and cricket.

"India has helped to build Parliament, if that is what he is referring to or Salma Dam, transmission lines, roads and over 400 high-impact community development projects. Delhi is probably third or fourth largest single country donor," sources said, adding it appears that the US President’s statement is a matter of poor briefing by officials around him.

Inaugurating the Afghan Parliament building in 2015 after reconstruction financed by India, Modi promised to promote programmes “empowering Afghan youth with modern education and professional skills”. Besides India has announced that it will assist 116 small development projects in Afghanistan.

The Indo-Afghan developmental partnership is premised on 5 pillars

Infrastructure Projects

- Construction of a 218 km road from Zaranj to Delaram for facilitating movement of goods and services to the Iranian border. The highway will connect Iran with the Garland Highway, which links Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif Herat and Kunduz

- Construction of 220kV DC transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul and a 220/110/20 kV sub-station at Chimtala; the transmission line not only brings electricity and light to smaller towns and villages but also provides a key element of security for Afghan and US forces

- India-Afghanistan Friendship Dam (Salma Dam). The Dam has an installed capacity of 42 MW and supplies water for irrigating 75,000 hectares of land. Since inauguration in 2016, the project has been generating electricity and releasing water for irrigation

- The new Afghan Parliament built with Indian support is a symbol of the democratic traditions that India and Afghanistan share

Capacity Building

- More than 3500 Afghans undergoing various training programmes in India

- A Special Scholarship Scheme of 1000 scholarships per annum to Afghan Nationals under ICCR

- India offers 500 Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) slots to Afghanistan annually. The ITEC training is expected to address Afghanistan’s need to strengthen its administration and governance at national, provincial and district levels, including through sharing experiences and technical assistance in building capacities of civil administration and project implementation.

Humanitarian Assistance

- Supply of 1.1 million MT of wheat to Afghanistan 

- The Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health IGICH - a 400-bed hospital is the main hospital in Afghanistan that caters to the well-being of children from all across Afghanistan. Annually, approximately 3 lakh children (2.5 lakh OPD and 50,000 IPD) get treated at IGICH

Economic Development

- Encouraging private investments into Afghanistan, such as through the India Afghanistan Trade and Investment Show in 2017

- 116 new ‘High Impact Community Development Projects’ in 31 provinces of Afghanistan, including in the areas of education, health, agriculture, irrigation, drinking water, renewable energy, flood control, micro-hydropower, sports infrastructure, administrative infrastructure

- A significant addition to India's development portfolio in Afghanistan is the Small Development Projects (SDP) scheme, in the fields of agriculture, rural development, education, health, vocational training, etc. The Small Development Projects are implemented in three Phases- under I & II phase (total commitment of US$ 20 million) 132 projects at a cost of approx. US$ 19.5 million were approved (94 projects completed

Connectivity 

- Chabahar Port Development 

- Direct Air Freight Corridor between India and Afghanistan established in 2017