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The India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership: Geopolitical Implications and Regional Security Dynamics in South Asia (2001-2023)
Sana Gul
Abstract:
The present studies will explore the transformation of the strategic partnership between India and Afghanistan from 2001 to 2025 and what this means for security in South Asia region. The study uses qualitative research approach. It attempts to understand the impact of India’s involvement on the geopolitical environment of the region, using policy documents and data on development assistance. It focuses on India’s investment of three billion dollars in Afghanistan’s infrastructure, education and security sectors. Key points show that India’s strategy had four goals: to provide reconstruction aid to improve regional connectivity to expand its strategic depth and to balance influence with other regional powers. The study finds that while India played a role in boosting Afghanistan’s development it also made the region’s security situation more complicated. The balance of power in South Asia has shifted in ways that were not expected. This partnership model has been tested heavily by the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. India now needs to rethink its strategy. This discussion helps explain some of the dynamics in South Asia and provides lessons on how lasting cooperation among countries, in the region can be built.
Keywords:
India-Afghanistan relations, South Asian security, strategic partnership, regional geopolitics, development diplomacy
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