India among largest assistance donors for Afghanistan:Pentagon

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Apr 29 (PTI) Applauding India's developmental
role in Afghanistan, the Pentagon has said New Delhi remains
one of the largest assistance donors for the war-torn country
for which it has pledged USD 1.3 billion in aid.
"Indian projects were undertaken in partnership with the
Afghan Government, in alignment with the Afghanistan National
Development Strategy, and with a focus on local ownership of
assets. India remains one of Afghanistan's largest assistance
donors," the Pentagon said in a report on Afghanistan
submitted to the Congress.
India has pledged USD 1.3 billion in reconstruction and
developmental aid in Afghanistan, approximately one-third of
which has been disbursed, it said.
India's civilian aid is channelled into three main areas:
infrastructure development -- roads, water, electricity;
capacity building -- 1,300 annual college scholarships and
civil service training grants; and humanitarian assistance --
food and medical aid.
India is currently working on the Salma hydro-electric
dam in Herat Province as well as other power generation/
transmission projects, has refurbished telecommunications
infrastructure equipment in 11 provinces and is constructing
the new Afghan Parliament building in Kabul, the report noted.
In January 2010, at the London Conference for
Afghanistan, India announced additional assistance for
Afghanistan agriculture in the form of agriculture degree
scholarships and training grants to agricultural officials.
"India also announced that they would work with the
United Nations Development Programme and the Afghan Government
to enhance existing ministerial capacity building programmes,"
it said.
The report said the countries of Central Asia --
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and
Turkmenistan -- continue their important contributions to the
security and stabilisation of Afghanistan.
Most notably, officials from Central Asia have worked
closely with US officials to diversify lines of communication
into, and out of, Afghanistan.
These lines of communication, including over-flight
permissions and ground transit agreements, have allowed
further development of the Northern Distribution Network
(NDN), providing an alternative transportation route into
Afghanistan that allows commercial vendors to bring supplies
to the US and coalition forces in Afghanistan. PTI LKJ
KAB