| Since independence,India has been trying to expand its influence in Afghanistan based on its own interests.However,due to various factors,India’s strategic objectives in Afghanistan have not been successfully achieved.The September 11 attacks provided a strategic opportunity for India to increase its influence in Afghanistan.With the support of the United States,India has actively participated in the post-war reconstruction process in Afghanistan.India has adopted an active "soft" foreign policy towards Afghanistan,and regarded the aid as the cornerstone of its policy towards Afghanistan.India has pursued its interests in Afghanistan through a range of political,economic and cultural means.The study of India’s foreign policy towards Afghanistan is helpful to understand the formulation and implementation of foreign policy of a country in international relations,and provides certain reference for the formulation and adjustment of China’s foreign policy.This paper takes India’s policy towards Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks as the research object.By sorting out the basic contents and effects of the Indian government’s policy towards Afghanistan in different domestic and international situations after 2001,this paper focuses on the analysis of the dominant factors affecting India’s policy towards Afghanistan and the characteristics of India’s policy towards Afghanistan.The first and second parts of this paper mainly comb and analyze the background,content and effect of the policy of Singh’s government and the Modi’s government towards Afghanistan.The paper suggests that India has been increasing its influence in Afghanistan in terms of politics,economy,military and social culture.India’s policy towards Afghanistan has had some success,but it is still flawed.The third part analyzes the similarities and differences between Modi’s and Singh’s policies towards Afghanistan,and discusses the dominant factors affecting India’s policy making in Afghanistan as well as the characteristics of India’s policy towards Afghanistan.The article points out that While maintaining a high degree of consistency with Singh at the strategic level,Modi has also made some adjustments in specific strategies.After the September 11 attacks,India’s great power strategy,Pakistan’s checks and balances,the intervention of great powers outside the region and the domestic situation in Afghanistan have been the dominant factors affecting India’s policy towards Afghanistan.India’s policy towards Afghanistan has a clear orientation of geographical competition.It has structural contradictions that are difficult to resolve.Moreover,India’s policy towards Afghanistan is susceptible to external circumstances.On the basis of the above research,this paper holds that:The strategic objectives and overall path of Indian governments’ policy towards Afghanistan have not changed fundamentally for a long time.Facing the constantly changing domestic and international situation,the Indian government is also carefully adjusting the specific content of its policy towards Afghanistan.As India’s interests in Afghanistan are long-term,the Indian government will continue to strengthen ties with Afghanistan and try to increase its influence in Afghanistan.However,as long as the conflict between India and Pakistan is not fundamentally resolved,India cannot dilute its traditional thinking of geopolitical struggle,the development of India-Afghanistan relations will always be restricted by Pakistan,resulting in India’s strategic interests in Afghanistan will not really realized.At present,with the signing of the agreement between the United States and the Taliban,the uncertainty of the security situation in Afghanistan has increased sharply,and India’s policy towards Afghanistan is also facing new adjustments.As a major country in South Asia,India should rethink its traditional geopolitical thinking,look at this major change from a broader and more strategic perspective,and truly become a regional engine to promote stability and development in South Asia.This should become the starting point of its future policy in Afghanistan and also the fundamental interest of India. |
