New Delhi: The Indian government announced that it would build the Shahtoot Dam on Kabul river in Afghanistan, which will bring relief to the residents of Kabul but greatly unnerve neighbouring Pakistan, which is likely to protest vehemently.
India's foreign minister S Jaishankar announced at the Geneva donors conference, “India had just concluded with Afghanistan an agreement for construction of Shahtoot Dam, which would provide safe drinking water to 2 million residents of Kabul city.” The announcement is likely to be received with dismay in Pakistan, which has accused India of choking its water supplies from Kashmir and Afghanistan.
The plan for the dam is not new, it has been discussed and feasibility assessed at least for the past three years. But this is the first time India pledged it in an international conference, which makes it significant. The dam on the Maidan river, a big tributary of the Kabul river, will ease the growing water woes of a stressed country.
“I am happy to learn of India's commitment on constructing the Shahtoot Dam on Kabul river. It is essential for drinking water supplies to Kabul which is staring at serious water shortage. We started a conversation on this in 2016. We should, together with Afghan partners, expedite work on this project for which basic ground work has been done,” former ambassador to Afghanistan Amar Sinha said.
MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “The minister also announced launch of Phase-IV of high impact community development projects in Afghanistan, which envisage more than 100 projects worth $80 million that India will undertake in Afghanistan.” The high impact small development projects have shown to have very high levels of popular support and participation. Started in Afghanistan, India has now replicated this template in other neighbouring countries as well.
