Nations around the world committed their financial and political support for the next four years for Afghanistan during the Afghanistan Conference 2020 which was held in Geneva, TOLOnews reported.  In the conference, the country managed to secure around $13 billion in foreign commitments for the next four years, though the amount is less than what the Afghanistan government had expected earlier. 

Previously the country hoped to secure at least $4 billion annually and now the pledged amount in the Afghanistan Conference 2020 is little more than $3 billion. Most of the European contributions are conditioned with Afghanistan’s commitment to stick with democratic values, Human rights, and women and minorities’ rights.  

Around 100 countries and international organizations participated in the last such conference which aims to take Afghanistan toward self-reliance by 2024. The Taliban didn’t participate in the conference though there were some efforts by the European Union to bring the insurgent group on board. 

Given the uncertainty over the future political dispensation of the country as the intra-Afghan negotiation goes on, many European countries and the United States conditioned their commitments. Some countries pledged their assistance on a year or two years basis. 

In the conference, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced the agreement on building Shahtoot Dam on the Kabul river basin which will provide safe drinking water to nearly 2 million residents of Kabul city. The dam will also irrigate the vast land of Kabul province. 

Apart from building the dam, India will continue to provide 2500 scholarships to Afghan students and 100 high-impact community development projects costing $80 million. 

“No part of Afghanistan today is untouched by the 400 plus projects that India has undertaken in all 34 of Afghanistan provinces,” Jaishankar said in the conference. 

The European Union committed $1.2 billion conditional support for the next four years while the United States committed $600 million for the next year, of which $300 million is conditioned with progress on the intra-Afghan talks. 

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani emphasized the need for regional connectivity as not only a means to enhance the state capability but also for peacebuilding in Afghanistan.