File Photo of Afghani women during a cultural event in New Delhi

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday allocated ₹200 crore as aid for Afghanistan in its budget for 2022-23, signalling New Delhi’s continuing commitment to the war-torn country, even as it made an outlay of ₹100 crore for the development of Iran’s Chabahar port.

The government also proposed an allocation of ₹360 crore as aid for the Maldives, a key part of India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy, and ₹600 crore for Myanmar, which is currently dealing with an economic crisis in the wake of last year’s coup and the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.

These allocations were part of the total outlay of ₹17,250 crore for the ministry for the next fiscal, down from the ₹18,155 crore allocated in 2021-22. The revised estimate for the ministry’s expenditure during the current fiscal was ₹16,000 crore, and people familiar with the matter said the figure was lower than usual as activities such as foreign visits and projects were affected by the pandemic.

As usual, India’s close partner Bhutan got the lion’s share – ₹2,266 crore – of the total outlay of ₹6,292 crore as aid to foreign countries during 2022-23. However, this was far lower than the ₹3,005 crore allocated for Bhutan in 2021-22.

India has not recognised the Taliban setup that assumed power in Afghanistan in mid-August last year after the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government, but it has said it will continue to provide assistance to the Afghan people who are currently grappling with a humanitarian crisis. The people cited above said the allocation of ₹200 crore as aid for Afghanistan reflected the government’s continuing commitment to the Afghan people.

“It is a signal that India is not switching off,” one of the people said.

The amount allocated for the next fiscal will be used to meet expenses related to projects that India has been implementing in Afghanistan, to provide relief materials and humanitarian assistance and to cover existing schemes such as scholarships for Afghan students, the people said.