How Much Aid Has India Given Afghanistan, Will It Ever Be Recovered? | World News
New Delhi: India has provided around $3 billion (about 25,000 crore rupees) to Afghanistan in the last two decades. This support was entirely in the form of grants, not loans. The money was used to build roads, hospitals, schools, administrative buildings and energy projects, including the iconic Salma Dam, often referred to as the Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam. The focus was on strengthening infrastructure and institutional capacity rather than generating financial returns.
Aid Not Credit
Most of India’s aid went directly to development projects. These include the construction of the Afghan Parliament in Kabul, various roads and highways, hospitals, schools, scholarships and humanitarian aid. The main goal has always been to strengthen Afghan institutions and people, rather than getting money back as lenders do.
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Will India Get This Money Back?
Since this aid is given as a grant, no repayment is expected. Official reports confirm that India never sought repayment from Afghanistan.
Experts define this approach as soft power diplomacy, where the priority is regional stability and confidence building rather than financial gain.
Impact of Taliban Takeover
After the Taliban returned to power in 2021, India suspended new development projects in Afghanistan. However, none of the aid provided before was converted into a loan.
India continues to provide humanitarian support, including wheat, medicine and other aid supplies, without any material conditions.
India’s People-Oriented Policy
India’s approach in Afghanistan has always been people-oriented, with an emphasis on helping the Afghan population rather than treating the country as a borrowing client like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank. This explains why debt collection problems do not arise.
