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{{Short description|Overview of the presence of Indian nationals and citizens in Afghanistan}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
|group = Indians in Afghanistan
|image =
|caption = Indian Prime Minister Singh in Kabul
|poptime =
|popplace = [[Kabul]]{{·}} [[Jalalabad]]
|langs = [[Hindi]]{{·}} [[English language|English]]{{·}} [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]{{·}} [[Pashto language|Pashto]]{{·}} [[Persian language|Persian]] <small>([[Dari (Eastern Persian)|Dari]])</small>{{·}} [[Urdu]]{{·}} other [[Languages of India|Indian languages]]
|rels = [[Hinduism]]{{·}} [[Sikhism]]{{·}} [[Islam]]
|related = [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Indian diaspora]], [[Hindkowans]], [[Potoharis]], [[Rajputs]], [[Jats]], [[Gujjars]], [[Tarkhans]], [[Awans]] and other [[Indo-Aryan peoples]]
}}

There is a small community of '''Indians in Afghanistan''' who are Afghans of Indian origin as well as Indian construction and aid workers involved in rebuilding and humanitarian assistance efforts. India is often described as acting as a soft power in Afghanistan. Having committed a $2.3 billion aid program, India is one of the largest donors to Afghanistan, investing in the economy, humanitarian aid, education, development, construction and electrical .<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/world/asia/13kabul.html Indian and Afghan Leaders Forge Deeper Ties in Meeting]</ref> According to ''[[Foreign Policy]]'' among Afghans there is a positive perception of India's role in the reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.<ref name="foreignpolicy1">[http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/10/26/indian_afghan_strategic_partnership_perceptions_from_the_ground Indian-Afghan strategic partnership: perceptions from the ground]</ref>

Indian nationals in Afghanistan have become the target of the [[Taliban]] [[Haqqani network]] and the Pakistani [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]] terrorist organizations, both widely believed to receive strong support of Pakistan's [[Inter-Services Intelligence]], which Pakistan denies.<ref name="nytimes1"/><ref name="telegraph1"/><ref name="PBS1">{{cite web |year=2011|url =https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/2011/01/video-amrullah-saleh-spy-who-quit.html#ixzz1iW6uh3i8|title =The Spy Who Quit| publisher = PBS}}</ref><ref name="nyt">{{cite news| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/world/asia/01pstan.html| title = Pakistanis Aided Attack in Kabul, U.S. Officials Say| author=Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt| date = 1 Aug 2008| work=New York Times}}</ref><ref name="rferl1"/>

==History==
[[File:AsokaKandahar.jpg|thumb|left|An [[Edicts of Ashoka|edict of Ashoka]] from [[Kandahar]], now in the Kabul museum.]]
Afghanistan and the [[Indian subcontinent]] were historically and ethnically linked in earlier times. An edict of the [[Maurya empire|Mauryan]] emperor [[Ashoka]] has been found in [[Kandahar]], marking the western extent of his dominion.<ref name="Magadha)Nikam1978">{{cite book|last1=Aśoka (King of Magadha)|last2=Nikam|first2=Narayanrao Appurao|title=The Edicts of Asoka|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=02_uHimEXwQC&pg=PA20|access-date=13 January 2012|date=15 October 1978|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-58611-3|pages=20–21}}</ref> The [[mahajanapada]] of [[Gandhara]] extended from the Kabul river to the Punjab, comprising Hindu and Buddhist dynasties, and lasted a thousand years till the 11th Century AD when it was overthrown by the Ghaznavids.<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "Gandhara," accessed January 13, 2012, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/225179/Gandhara. </ref> Trade ties with Afghanistan go back hundreds of years with trade blooming during the reign of the [[Mughal emperors]] in India with their fondness for fruit and other produce from Central Asia.<ref name="Hanifi2011">{{cite book|author=Shah Mahmoud Hanifi|author-link=Shah Mahmoud Hanifi|title=Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kh1hpPLSpcEC&pg=PT95|access-date=11 January 2012|date=11 February 2011|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-7411-6|pages=95–102|chapter=Financing the Kabul Produce}}</ref>

Migration of Hindu community to Afghanistan was mainly from the neighbouring kingdom of Punjab, later a province of [[British India]].<ref name="NIC">{{Cite web |url=http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter2.pdf |title=The Indian Diaspora (Chapter 2) – Afghanistan, Central Asia and Iran |access-date=2011-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929180139/http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter2.pdf |archive-date=2013-09-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By the nineteenth century a large Hindu community, comprising ethnic groups such as Lohanis and Shikarpuri Khatris, was widespread throughout the region and tribes and concerned primarily with commerce. A city peopled by [[Khatri]] Hindus, [[Shikarpur, Sindh|Shikarpur]], was established in the 1800s and rose to be one of Afghanistan's main centres of commerce – primarily a money market and banking centre, which had outlying partnerships with places as widely apart as "[[Bombay]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], [[Sindh]], [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], parts of [[Persia]] and [[Russia]]". They eventually developed control of the banking throughout Central Asia ranging from "[[Astrakhan]] to Meshid to [[Calcutta]]" (vide [[Alexander Burnes]]).<ref name="Hanifi2011"/> Known by the local epithet of ''[[Hindki]]s'', they spoke a variant of [[Punjabi (language)|Punjabi]], gained employment in financial and clerical posts throughout the region, were shopkeepers, grain merchants, money-lenders and goldsmiths, forming a vital part of the economy of the region.<ref name="Hanifi2011"/> Shah Shuja employed as his finance minister, Lalla Jeth Mall, a [[Khatri]] Hindu from [[Shikarpur, Sindh|Shikarpur]].<ref name="Hanifi2011"/> Barnes records that the population of Hindkis in Afghanistan at that time to be about 300,000.<ref name="Hanifi2011"/>

The [[Khilafat movement]] of 1920 saw a spontaneous migration of Indian Muslims to be free of perceived British bondage of Islam by emigrating to neighbouring Afghanistan. Encouraged by their religious leaders, thousands of peoples sold their belongings and migrated to Afghanistan choking the Khyber Pass with their possessions on bullock cart, camel and cycles. Overwhelmed by the migration, the Amir of Afghanistan blocked the emigration. Large numbers of ''muhajirin'' were robbed by Afghan tribes, and died of heat, thirst and hunger. Thousands returned home destitute.<ref name="Minault1982">{{cite book|last=Minault|first=Gail|title=The Khilafat movement: religious symbolism and political mobilization in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAW8GreFqjkC&pg=PA106|access-date=11 January 2012|year=1982|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-05072-2|pages=105–106}}</ref>

As of 1990, the population of Afghans of Indian origin was estimated at 45,000, mostly descended from migrants from the [[Punjab region]]. They settled down in various parts of Afghanistan, particularly Jalalabad and Kabul.<ref name="NIC"/> Many left Afghanistan after the [[Taliban]] came to power in 1996, mainly due to harsh restrictions imposed on them, leaving a population of approximately 1,000, mainly based in [[Kabul]] and [[Jalalabad]].<ref name="NIC"/> India did not have any official representation in Afghanistan while the Taliban were in power. The small Hindu and Sikh communities suffered harsh discrimination during that period.<ref name="NIC"/> In April 2001, the Taliban issued an edict requiring Hindu males to wear marks of red dots (tilak) on their forehead, were barred from wearing ''salwar kameez'' or white turban and forced to wear black caps as identification when leaving their homes.<ref name="NIC"/> Hindu women were forced to drape themselves in yellow dress and wear iron necklace.<ref name="NIC"/> Hindus also were ordered to display a yellow flag on their houses and were not allowed to reside in the same houses as Muslims.<ref name="NIC"/>

==Indian aid to Afghanistan==
[[Image:Highway 1 in Delaram, Afghanistan 001.jpg|220px|right|thumb|Intersection of A01 and Delaram-Zaranj Highway near Delaram]]

India has no military presence in Afghanistan.<ref name="Thottam2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2062364,00.html |title=Afghanistan: India's Uncertain Road |author=Thottam, Jyothi |date=11 April 2011 |work=Time Magazine World 9online) |publisher=Time Inc. |access-date=18 January 2012 }}</ref><ref name=QADRI>{{cite news|last=QADRI|first=MUSTAFA|title=Should we talk to the Taliban?|url=http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/32742.html|newspaper=ABC|date=4 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="TQND">{{cite web |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-25/edit-page/30316837_1_haqqani-group-afghan-soldiers-afghanistan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213105459/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-25/edit-page/30316837_1_haqqani-group-afghan-soldiers-afghanistan |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 December 2013 |title=The Quagmire Next Door |author=Raza, Maroof |date=25 October 2011 |access-date=9 January 2012|work=[[The Times of India]] |quote=... any Indian military presence in Afghanistan will only add to Pakistan's anti-India hysteria of a two-front threat. }}</ref> An estimated 3,000 Indian nationals in Afghanistan work for reconstruction companies, international aid agencies or are Indian government employees working at the consulates and embassies.<ref name="Thottam2011"/>

As part of its humanitarian mission, India established field clinics and a children's hospital. It also runs a program providing midday-meals to about 2 million Afghan schoolchildren.<ref name="Thottam2011"/>

In the construction sector, an important work constructed by Indians is the 217 kilometre [[Delaram–Zaranj Highway]], or Route 606 by Indian construction agencies in Southern Afghanistan, the completion of which in August 2009 has given a viable alternative route for duty-free movement of goods through the Chahabar port in Iran to Afghanistan.<ref name="BennettFund2005">{{cite book|author1=Adam Bennett|author2=International Monetary Fund|title=Reconstructing Afghanistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sydnz-ZrTrUC&pg=PA18|access-date=10 January 2012|date=15 April 2005|publisher=International Monetary Fund|isbn=978-1-58906-324-2|page=18}}</ref><ref name="Usa2008">{{cite book|author=Ibp Usa|title=Global Logistics Assessments Reports Handbook: Strategic Transportation and Customs Information for Selected Countries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0x3TrjmWAsMC&pg=PA17|access-date=10 January 2012|date=15 February 2008|publisher=Int'l Business Publications|isbn=978-0-7397-6603-3|page=17}}</ref> Road building has been a prominent component of India reconstruction aid – over 700 kilometres of roads have been built in the preceding eight years. The hallmark project of the Indian aid effort is a majestic domed edifice costing $125 million for the Afghan Parliament which is likely to be completed at the end of 2011.<ref name="Thottam2011"/>

The government of India has also provided assistance in strengthening institutions and human resource development. Scholarships were provided in 2009 for 700 Afghan citizens while Afghan public servants were granted access to government training institutions in India for periods ranging from days to six months.<ref name="B-S 2009">{{cite news |url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/in-afghanistan-indianspraised-simply-for-being-indian/372716/ |title='In Afghanistan, Indians are praised simply for being Indian' – Q&A: Jayant Prasad, Indian ambassador to Afghanistan |author=Malhotra, Jyoti |date=Oct 9, 2009 |work=Business-Standard (online) |publisher=Business Standard Ltd |access-date=18 January 2012}}</ref> The Indian government furthermore provides scholarships to more than 1,000 Afghan students per year.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}

According to ''[[Foreign Policy]]'', which analysed perceptions about India especially among Pashtuns from Kabul to Kandahar, "the widespread support in the Pashtun heartland for an even greater Indian role in rebuilding the Afghan economy and society" is "striking".<ref name="foreignpolicy1"/> In 2011 India and Afghanistan signed the [[Strategic Partnership Agreement]] which would allow India to train and equip Afghan security forces.<ref name=SCHMIDT>{{cite news|last=SCHMIDT|first=JOHN R.|title=Pakistan's Alternate Universe|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/10/18/pakistan_haqqani_network_us_relations?page=0,0&hidecomments=yes|newspaper=FOREIGN POLICY|date=October 18, 2011}}</ref><ref name=HEALY>{{cite news|last=HEALY|first=JACK|title=Afghanistan Favors India and Denigrates Pakistan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/world/asia/afghanistan-curries-favor-with-india-and-denigrates-pakistan.html|newspaper=New York Times|date=October 4, 2011|author2=ALISSA J. RUBIN}}</ref>

==Attacks on Indians==
{{Main|2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul|2009 Kabul Indian embassy attack}}
Since 2008 , Indian civilians and diplomatic buildings have been a target of numerous deadly terrorist attacks. Most of these attacks are carried out by Pakistan based-terrorist groups.

In 2008, [[2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul|an attack on the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan]] killed 58 people and wounded 141.<ref name="rferl1">[http://www.rferl.org/content/Karzai_Says_Pakistan_Behind_Indian_Embassy_Bombing_In_Kabul/1183630.html Karzai Accuses Pakistan Of Being Behind Indian Embassy Bombing]</ref><ref>[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/isi-behind-mumbai-attacks-bombing-of-indian-embassy-in-kabul-bbc-report/870894/ ISI behind Mumbai attacks, bombing of Indian embassy in Kabul: BBC report]</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">[http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/07/afghanistan.explosion/index.html Kabul car blast kills 41, including Indian envoys]</ref> The attacks killed an Indian defense attaché, a political consul, two embassy security guards, six Afghan police officers and many Afghan civilians.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

International officials believe, Pakistan's [[Inter-Services Intelligence]] masterminded the attacks while the [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]] in collaboration with the [[Haqqani network]] carried out the attacks.<ref name="nytimes1">[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/world/asia/09afghan.html?_r=1&hp 17 Die in Kabul Bomb Attack]</ref><ref name="telegraph1">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7361623/Kabul-blames-Pakistani-militants-for-attack-on-Indians.html Kabul blames Pakistani militants for attack on Indians]</ref><ref name="PBS1"/><ref name="nyt"/><ref name="rferl1"/><ref name="Thottam2011"/> Afghan President [[Hamid Karzai]] terming the attacks an "abominable act" by "the enemies of Afghanistan's friendship with India" said the Indian Embassy bombing in Kabul was the work of "Pakistani agents".<ref name="rferl1"/><ref name="autogenerated1"/> He also stated, "India has made a significant contribution to development and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. Resorting to these types of hellish acts will not damage the friendly relationship between Afghanistan and India."<ref name="autogenerated1"/> [[United States President]] [[George W. Bush]] confronted [[Pakistani Prime Minister]] [[Yousuf Raza Gilani]] with evidence and warned him that in the case of another such attack he would have to take "serious action".<ref name="timesonline">{{cite news| url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article4449330.ece| title = Rogue Pakistan spies aid Taliban in Afghanistan (Times Online)]| author=Christina Lamb| publisher=The Times of London| date = 3 Aug 2008}}</ref> Pakistan denied any involvement in the attacks.<ref name="rferl1"/> Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman [[Mohammed Sadiq (diplomat)|Mohammed Sadiq]] said there was not enough evidence of ISI involvement.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/01/pakistan.usa Pakistan condemns US claims of involvement in Kabul Indian embassy bombing]</ref>

In 2009, a second attack on the Indian embassy killed 17 people.<ref name="nytimes1"/> The Haqqani network was blamed for the attack.<ref name="nytimes1"/> In 2011, [[Mike Mullen]], Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated the Haqqani network was in many ways "a strategic arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency".<ref>[http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/09/admiral_mullen_pakis.php Admiral Mullen: Pakistani ISI sponsoring Haqqani attacks]</ref>

In 2010, six Indian construction workers and several Indian doctors were killed in terrorist attacks on two Kabul guesthouse often frequented by Indians. Saeed Ansari, spokesman for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, said the militants who attacked the Indian guesthouse were speaking Urdu, Pakistan's official language.<ref name="telegraph1"/> "We are very close to the exact proof and evidence that the attack on the Indian guesthouse ... was carried out by [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]] network, who are dependent on the Pakistan military."<ref name="telegraph1"/><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/02/AR2010030202427.html Afghan intelligence ties Pakiistani group Lashkar-i-Taiba to recent Kabul attack]</ref>

In 2019, 4 Indian nationals were kidnapped by [[Haqqani network]]. However, they were rescued in a special [[Extraction (military)|exfiltration]] operation was undertaken by [[Research and Analysis Wing|R&AW]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/agencies-rescue-indians-abducted-afghan|title=Agencies rescue Indians abducted in Afghan|date=4 January 2020|access-date= 4 January 2020|publisher=Sunday Guardian}}</ref>

== Alleged intelligence activity and support for insurgents ==

Pakistani government officials have accused the Indian [[Research and Analysis Wing]] (R&AW) of having an active presence inside Afghanistan, from where they claim it provides material support to anti-state militant groups such as the [[Balochistan Liberation Army]] against Pakistan.<ref>[http://tribune.com.pk/story/84902/wikileaks-india-russia-supporting-baloch-insurgency/ MPs told Russia, India and UAE involved in Baloch insurgency – The Express Tribune]</ref><ref name="outlook">[http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?231032 www.outlookindia.com | 'RAW Is Training 600 Balochis In Afghanistan']</ref><ref>[http://www.pak-times.com/2008/09/05/raw-creating-trouble-for-nato-in-afghanistan/ Pakistan Times! » RAW Creating Trouble for NATO in Afghanistan] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120430194436/http://www.pak-times.com/2008/09/05/raw-creating-trouble-for-nato-in-afghanistan/ |date=2012-04-30 }}</ref><ref>[http://tribune.com.pk/story/308841/afghan-commander-orchestrated-nov-26-attack-report/ RAW collusion suspected: Probe faults Afghan serviceman for NATO air raid, says report – The Express Tribune]</ref><ref>[http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/mar/08raw-helping-militants-in-afghanistan-says-musharraf.htm RAW helping militants in Afghanistan: Musharraf]</ref> Among these concerns is the large number of Indian consulates in Afghanistan, which Pakistan has dubbed "launching pads" for intelligence activities and covert operations adverse to Pakistan, under the cover of diplomacy.<ref name="outlook"/>

India has denied these allegations and said Pakistan had brought forward no evidence to back up such claims.<ref>{{cite news |author= |date=27 May 2009 |title=No evidence that India aiding Pak Baloch rebels |url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/no-evidence-that-india-aiding-pak-baloch-rebels/466814/ |newspaper=The Indian Express |access-date=18 March 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Afghanistan-India relations]]
*[[Afghans in India]]
*[[Hinduism in Afghanistan]]
*[[Pakistanis in Afghanistan]]
*[[Sikhism in Afghanistan]]
*[[Punjabis in Afghanistan]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{cite web |url=http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/database/afganistanindianattack.htm |title=Terrorist Attacks on Indians in Afghanistan |work=[http://www.satp.org/default.asp South Asia Terrorism Portal] |publisher=Institute for Conflict Management, New Delhi|access-date=18 January 2012}}
{{NRI-PIO}}

{{Ethnic groups in Afghanistan}}

[[Category:Ethnic groups in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Immigration to Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Afghanistan–India relations]]
[[Category:Afghan people of Indian descent| ]]

Indians in Afghanistan - Revision history

>Citation bot at 08:31, 6 July 2021