India Indicates Readiness to Help Afghanistan Build Dam Over Kunar River Shared With Pakistan

New Delhi: India has indicated it would be ready to help Kabul in its efforts to build a dam over the Kunar River which it shares with Pakistan, while continuing to back the Taliban over its clashes with Pakistani forces earlier this month at a time when relations between the two sides have remained tense.

Last week, Afghanistan's energy and water ministry announced that Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had ordered for the construction of dams along the Kunar River “as soon as possible” as well as to “enter into contracts with domestic companies” and not wait for foreign firms in this regard.

Asked if India would consider building or funding a dam along the Kunar, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday (October 30) underlined the agreement between New Delhi and Kabul to cooperate on hydroelectric projects in Afghanistan.

The joint statement issued during acting Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi's visit to New Delhi earlier this month “clearly emphasises that India stands ready to support all efforts of Afghanistan that are directed towards sustainable management of water resources, including hydroelectric projects,” Jaiswal said at his ministry's weekly press briefing.

“You also would know that between the two countries, there has been a long history of cooperation on water matters. The Salma Dam, for example, is a perfect example of this cooperation,” he added.

Per the joint statement issued on October 10 the two sides had “agreed to cooperate on hydroelectric projects with a view to addressing Afghanistan's energy needs and support its agricultural development” and “underscored the importance of sustainable water management”.

The Kunar originates in northern Pakistan and flows into eastern Afghanistan, where it joins the Kabul River that in turn crosses into Pakistan before emptying into the Indus.

Reports of Afghan plans to build dams on the Kunar and Kabul rivers have sparked some concern in Pakistan in the past.

Pakistan's foreign office when asked about the Afghan energy and water ministry's statement last week said that Islamabad was looking into the matter.

“We are ascertaining the details. But generally trans-boundary rivers are governed by international law. In such matter, Pakistan is both an upper and lower riparian. So, we will follow this matter,” Islamabad said.

India ‘fully committed to Afghanistan's sovereignty, territorial integrity’

Jaiswal on Thursday was also asked about Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif's remarks alleging India was waging a ‘proxy war’ against Islamabad using Afghanistan, to which he responded by reiterating New Delhi's backing for Afghanistan over its deadly clashes with Pakistan.

“I reiterate what I had said in my last briefing, that Pakistan is infuriated with Afghanistan exercising sovereignty over its own territories. Pakistan seems to think that it has the right to practice cross-border terrorism with impunity. Its neighbours find it unacceptable,” he said.

The spokesperson added that India “remains fully committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Afghanistan”.

Islamabad and Kabul after their worst clashes in decades earlier this month entered into a ceasefire on October 9 after talks held in Doha.

Subsequent rounds of talks were in Istanbul and appeared to founder – with a Pakistani cabinet minister saying they had “failed” over what he said was the Taliban's lack of commitment to curbing anti-Pakistan terrorist activity on Afghan soil – until the Turkish foreign ministry announced early on Friday Indian time that negotiations would continue next week.

The two sides agreed to continue the ceasefire and to “put in place a monitoring and verification mechanism that will ensure maintenance of peace and imposing penalty on the violating party,” per Turkey, which along with Qatar has mediated the Afghan-Pakistani talks.

They will next meet on November 6 in Istanbul to ‘discuss and decide further modalities on the implementation’ of the ceasefire.

While Islamabad has long accused Kabul of sheltering militants associated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, the Taliban denies this and in turn accuses Pakistan's military of spreading misinformation and protecting ISIS-linked groups.

The ceasefire negotiated on October 9 has largely held, although Pakistani forces have continued to engage in lethal clashes with militants.

India's remarks marking a public alignment with Taliban come as it has cautiously but steadily ramped up its engagement with the regime since it took over the reins in Kabul in 2021.

This process most recently involved India upgrading its mission in the Afghan capital to ‘embassy’ status days after announcing its intention to do so during Muttaqi's unprecedented six-day visit to India – he is the first Taliban minister to have made an official trip to the country.

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