Afghanistan President meets PM Narendra Modi.

Afghanistan President meets PM Narendra Modi: Why is the meeting important?

This comes under one of the clauses of the Strategic Partnership with Afghanistan — signed in 2011— wherein regular consultations on strategic issues are held between the two countries Amidst uncertainty plaguing India’s relationships with its neighbours — Nepal pushing for closer relations with China; the Maldives summoning the Indian envoy and returning Indian helicopters and Bangladesh’s unhappiness about India’s response to the Rohingya crisis — Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s one-day visit to India is being seen as a noteworthy development.

According to reports, President Ghani is expected to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a “host of issues”. This comes under one of the clauses of the Strategic Partnership with Afghanistan (SPA)— signed in 2011— wherein regular consultations on strategic issues are held between the two countries.

“Afghanistan is currently facing a very critical time in all respects, and we certainly need to sit down with all our friends and strategic partners like India to discuss how to deal with terrorism and security issues that ultimately affect all of us,” Afghanistan Ambassador to India Dr Shaida Abdali told The Hindu.

Afghanistan has been witness to a spate of terrorist attacks recently, with the most recent on September 17. The attacks have claimed the lives of at least 27 Afghan security officers across the country. Before this, an offensive in Ghazni, the country’s sixth largest city, had killed over 100 members of the security forces and left most of the city damaged.

Afghanistan is also going through an important phase politically, with the United States and Russia pushing for the Taliban to be brought to table and the parliamentary elections scheduled for next month while the Presidential elections are expected to be held in 2019.

Abdali admitted that the situation is not according to expectation ahead of the elections.

The meeting also comes on the heels of a new government taking over the helm at Pakistan and US Ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass' recent revelation that Pakistan is considering opening up of a trade route through the country to India.

"... a couple of months ago, for the first time, the Pakistani government expressed a willingness to start talking with its Afghan counterparts for parameters to enabling trade between India and Afghanistan through Pakistan,” Bass told Economic Times recently.

Afghanistan hopes that a change of government in Pakistan will lead to a change of policies towards Afghanistan. "It is a hope, but not a reality so far. As an Afghan, I would say if we continue to suffer terrorism on the ground, then there is no change in [Pakistan’s] policy in terms of cross-border terrorism," Abdali said.

The two leaders are also expected to address the issue of defence and security, especially with regard to India providing defence equipment to Afghanistan.

The two countries recently signed an MoU in which India promised to deliver four new helicopters to Afghanistan. India had, in 2015, gifted the Afghanistan security forces four Mi-24 choppers, marking a significant shift from its earlier stance of not providing any lethal weapon to a foreign country.