India Rejects Trump’s Jibe at PM Modi Over Ties With Afghanistan

US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

(Photo: AP)

Developmental assistance can play a major role in transforming Afghanistan, official sources told PTI on 3 January, rejecting US President Donald Trump's jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over funding of a "library" in the war-ravaged country.

Trump took a jibe at Modi for funding a "library" in Afghanistan, saying it is of no use in the war-torn country as he criticised India and others for not doing enough for the nation's security.

“I could give you an example where I get along very well with India and Prime Minister Modi. But he is constantly telling me, he built a library in Afghanistan. Library! That’s like five hours of what we spend (in Afghanistan).”

Donald Trump to his cabinet colleagues

He added, "And he (Modi) tells me. He is very smart. We are supposed to say, oh thank you for the library. Don't know who's using it (the library) in Afghanistan. But it's one of those things. I don't like being taken advantage of.”

In his first cabinet meeting in the new year on Wednesday, Trump asked India, Russia, Pakistan and other neighbouring countries to take responsibility for Afghanistan's security as he defended his push for the US to invest less overseas.

“Why is not Russia there (in Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban)? Why isn’t India there? Why isn’t Pakistan there? Why are we (US) there? We are 6,000 miles away. But I don’t mind. We want to help our people. We want to help other nations.”

Donald Trump to reporters during the Cabinet meeting

The US President cited India's efforts towards peace and development in Afghanistan but alleged that the countries were not doing enough in the war-ravaged country and that they were taking advantage of the United States.

Asserting that the Afghan war costs billions of dollars to the US, Trump said, "I want people to treat us fairly". He noted that heads of countries have told him that they are involved in the peace process by "just sending some 100 or 200 soldiers".

India Rejects Trump’s Jibe, Reiterates Developmental Investments in Afghanistan

Sources told PTI that India has been implementing a range of mega infrastructure projects as well as carrying out community development programmes in Afghanistan as per requirement of its people. They said such assistance would go a long way in making the country economically empowered and stable.

The sources said India may be building small libraries as part of the community development initiative, but most of its investments in Afghanistan were on mega infrastructure projects including the 218 km road from Zaranj to Delaram, the Salma Dam and the new Afghan Parliament building.

India has also been supplying military equipment to Afghanistan besides providing training to hundreds of Afghan security personnel.

The sources said India plays a significant role in the country as its development partner and that the partnership is built on the specific needs and requirements worked out with the Afghan government.

"India seeks to build capacities and capabilities of Afghan nationals and its institutions for governance and delivery of public service, develop socio-economic infrastructure, secure lives and promote livelihood," said a source.

Besides mega infrastructure projects, India is implementing 116 new 'High Impact Community Development Projects' in 31 provinces of Afghanistan, including in the areas of education, health, agriculture, irrigation, drinking water, renewable energy, flood control, micro-hydropower, sports infrastructure, administrative infrastructure.

Political Leaders React to Trump’s Remark

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel on 3 January termed Trump’s jibe as "completely unacceptable" and asked the government to remind America of India's assistance to Afghanistan.

Patel said,"Tenor and tone of the US president describing the Prime Minister of India is not in good taste and is completely unacceptable."

"Hope our government responds firmly and reminds America that since 2004, India has built extensive roads, dams in Afghanistan and pledged over USD 3 billion in assistance," he tweeted.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said India has been doing immense development work in Afghanistan for which the people of the war-ravaged country "thank us, no matter what others do or don't".

"May be Trump should know that while he is decrying every other help in Afghanistan, India has been building not only libraries, but roads, dams, schools and even parliament building. We are building lives, for which the Afghan people thank us, no matter what others do or don't," Madhav said in a tweet.

‘We Are Subsidising Their Military By Billions and Billions of Dollars’

Trump drew a comparison between the expenses being borne by the US and other countries in the Afghan peace efforts.

“What other countries have done for the last long period of time is given us some soldiers and then talk about it like it’s the end of the world. And we are subsidising their military by billions and billions and billions of dollars, many, many, many times, what those soldiers cost that country.”

Donald Trump

Responding to a question, he said he wants India to be involved in Afghanistan.

Asked if India's role in Afghanistan was going to be security related, Trump said: "We are going to be doing something that is right. We are talking to the Taliban. We are talking to a lot of different people."

"But here's the thing, because you mentioned India. India is there. Russia is there. Russia used to be Soviet Union. Afghanistan made it Russia, because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan. Russia. So you tend to look at other countries. Pakistan is there. They should be fighting. But Russia should be fighting," he said.

"The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there. The problem is it was a tough fight and literally they (Russia) went bankrupt," Trump said.

(This story has been published in an arrangement with PTI.)