Role of the United Nations in India-Kazakhstan Cooperation on Afghanistan: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Afghanistan has been a political and economic challenge since the launch of war on terror (WOT) by USA. Despite efforts made in the direction of democratisation by United Nations and billions of dollars poured into the country, it has not succeeded much in achieving political stability. It still faces challenges of terrorism, religious fundamentalism, tribalism and serious problems like widespread electoral corruption and drug trafficking. The county is therefore a regional security problem to its neighbourhood. Both India and Kazakhstan are part of that neighbourhood. India has made inroads into Afghanistan through its developmental projects and foreign investments. Kazakhstan also has stakes in Afghanistan. Firstly, it is because any instability in its neighbourhood, particularly in Afghanistan, is likely to have ripple effects in Kazakhstan. Secondly, the country has already invested in Afghanistan. It has allocated millions of dollars on social security projects in country. Emergency assistance in the form of food worth millions of dollars have been sent. Developmental initiatives like training of Afghan students in Kazakh universities have also been started. All these sound similar to the kind of role that India is playing-developmental and reconstructive in nature. However, Afghanistan creates a situation that presents both challenges and opportunities to Indo-Kazakhs cooperation. The challenges that lie ahead are because of their differing positions on Pakistan's role in Afghanistan's stability and China's increasing presence in the country (Kazakhstan). But at the same time, Afghanistan also presents an opportunity to further develop cooperation and coordination on not just an issue of regional security but also on international terrorism.