India-backed projects in Afghanistan, Myanmar have run into trouble, says MEA

New Delhi: Over the last few years, India has invested billions of dollars for humanitarian projects in Afghanistan and Myanmar. However, those projects are reportedly facing a lot of challenges.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India-backed projects have suffered setbacks in Afghanistan and faced numerous challenges in Myanmar due to the current political and security situations in these countries.

The ministry informed a parliamentary panel about this issue.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs chaired by BJP MP P P Chaudhary noted that there has been a reduction in allocation in aid to Afghanistan.

In an action taken report tabled in Parliament last week, the Ministry of External Affairs said it has noted the parliamentary panel’s observations and will work towards addressing them.

India’s development partnership with Afghanistan includes more than 500 projects spread across each of its 34 provinces and in various sectors.

“Several proposals in this regard are already under process. Due to the political and security situation in Afghanistan, implementation of projects has suffered setbacks,” the ministry said in the report.

Responding to the parliamentary committee’s observations on allocations to Myanmar, the ministry said despite the ongoing political situation in the country, India has completed and handed over a capacity building institution each on information technology and agriculture research in March this year.

Talking about the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project, the ministry said its waterways component has been completed while the construction work on its road component has been slow, “mainly due to the security situation on the Myanmar side and the delay caused due to COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Given the current security and political situation in Myanmar, implementation and execution of the above projects have been met with numerous challenges,” the ministry said.

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