Context

After a row erupted between India and Pakistan over the modalities of transportation, Pakistan finally agreed to let India transport wheat and life-saving drugs as humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan on Afghan trucks through the Wagah border crossing.

About

Afghanistan (the country profile)

• Afghanistan is a landlocked country, bordered by Pakistan in the south and east and Iran in the west.
• Afghanistan depended on Pakistan as Karachi was the only port it could access. 
• Pakistan has exploited Afghanistan geographical location.
  

Facts about India to Afghanistan route

• Delhi to Kabul is a distance of 990 km. Delhi to Kabul via Chabahar port in Iran is 3900 km, which is more than thrice the distance.
• Pakistan has been the traditional supplier of wheat to Afghanistan.
• India to Afghanistan road route goes via India-Pakistan Wagha Border.
• Pakistan to Afghanistan road is conncted via six routes as on 2021.
  • New delhi to wagha border
  • wagah border to Chaman border crossing (or any other crossing).
  • Chaman border crossing to Kabul
• There are six official border crossings and trade terminals between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Those are
  • Angur Ada Khyber
  • Badini Balochistan
  • Chaman Balochistan
  • Ghulam Khan Khyber
  • Kharlachi Khyber
  • Torkham Khyber
    
    

India’s attempt to enter into Afghanistan (post Taliban)

• India attempted to work its way back into Afghanistan by agreeing to host the third Regional Security Defense Dialogue (RSDD) in New Delhi in September 2021 — less than a month after the Taliban had taken over Kabul.
  • The RSDD is an Iranian initiative which hosted the first two meetings of the forum in 2018 and 2019.
• Participants: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan accepted the Indian invitation issued by its National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval. There were two significant no shows: Pakistan and China.
• The meeting in India issued what came to be known as the “Delhi Declaration”.
  • It asked the Taliban-led government to ensure that its territory “would never become a safe haven for global terrorism”.
  • It stressed the need for an “open and truly and inclusive government” and ensuring the “rights of women, children and minority communities”.