India to Launch Phase-IV of High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan
India has announced to launch the Phase-IV of the High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan.
What are those projects?
- The Phase-IV of the High Impact Community Development Projects comprise of more than 100 projects.
- Total cost of the project that India would undertake is 80 million dollars.
- This announcement was made during the 2020 Afghanistan Conference organized in Geneva.
2020 Afghanistan Conference
This is two day conference that began in Geneva on November 23, 2020. The conference was co-hosted by the United Nations, the Government of Afghanistan and the Government of Finland.
India-Afghanistan Relation
- India announced that, India recently concluded agreement with Afghanistan for the construction of the Shatoot dam.
- The Shatoot dam would provide safe drinking water to two million residents of Kabul city.
- India had also build earlier a 202-kilometer Phul-e-Khumri transmission line. The transmission line provided electricity to Kabul city.
- India also emphasized upon its long term commitment to the development of Afghanistan.
- India’s development portfolio in Afghanistan amounted to over 3 billion US dallars till date.
- India undertakes 400 plus projects in Afghanistan covering all the 34 provinces of Afghanistan.
- India further announced that, more than 65 thousand Afghan students have studied in India.
What were the challenges?
India highlighted that, Afghanistan’s growth has been pushed down because of its land locked geography. To tackle with it, India’s have provided an alternate connectivity through Chabahar port and a dedicated Air Freight Corridor between India and Afghanistan.
India’s humanitarian assistance
India recently provided 75 thousand tonnes of wheat so as to strengthen food security of Afghanistan amid the Covid pandemic. It was transported through the Chabahar port.