New Delhi: Over the last two decades, India has provided nearly $3 billion (around Rs 25,000 crore) to Afghanistan. This support has been entirely in the form of grants, not loans. The money has been used to build roads, hospitals, schools, administrative buildings and energy projects, including the iconic Salma Dam, often called the Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam. The focus has been on strengthening infrastructure and institutional capacity, rather than earning financial returns.
Aid, Not Loans
Much of India’s assistance has gone into direct development projects. These include the construction of the Afghan Parliament in Kabul, various roads and highways, hospitals, schools, scholarships and humanitarian relief. The primary objective has always been to empower Afghan institutions and people, rather than to recover money as a lender would.
Add Zee News as a Preferred Source
Will India Ever Get This Money Back?
Since this aid was given as grants, there is no repayment expected. Official reports confirm that India has never demanded reimbursement from Afghanistan.
Experts describe this approach as soft power diplomacy, where the priority is regional stability and trust-building rather than financial gain.
Impact Of The Taliban Takeover
After the Taliban returned to power in 2021, India suspended new development projects in Afghanistan. However, none of the previously granted assistance was converted into loans.
India continues to provide humanitarian support, including wheat, medicines and other relief supplies, without attaching any financial conditions.
India’s People-Centric Policy
India’s engagement in Afghanistan has always been people-focussed, emphasising aid for 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 questions of debt recovery simply do not arise.