Newsletter No. 1430
News-Analysis
August 3, 2009

 

The following Newsletter has been contributed by Alex Calvo (Shingetsu Member No. 127), who currently serves as Professor of International Relations and International Law, European University (Barcelona).

TWO INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS COMPLETED WITH JAPANESE AID

The following two infrastructure projects in Afghanistan have recently been completed with Japanese assistance.

1. “Ring Road” Segment

MOFA has announced the completion of a segment of the Afghan “Ring Road” with financial help from Tokyo. [1] This road, whose name derives from its circular shape, links (or is expected to link, since some of the sections are yet to be completed) all of the country’s main population centers and is therefore seen as crucial from an economic, political, and security perspective: economically, it would facilitate transportation of goods across the country; politically, it would contribute to a deeper integration of what still is to a great extent a collection of largely isolated regions; and from a security point of view there is a saying that “the Taliban begin where the roads end.”

The section of the road completed with a roughly US$114 million grant is that between Kandahar (capital of the province of the same name, in the southwest of the country) and Grishk (in neighboring Helmand Province), totaling 114 km. It is part of a 555 km-long section connecting Kandahar with Herat (capital of the province with the same name, in western Afghanistan). [2]

Kandahar and Helmand have seen some of the hardest fighting between Afghan and allied forces and the Taliban insurgency, whereas Herat is considered to be relatively safe. Its infrastructure has benefited from extensive Iranian investment and trade links with the country are strong and growing. [3]

The strategic importance of both Herat and Kandahar provinces has been increased by the signature this year of an agreement to build the TAPI (Turkmenistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan – India) natural gas pipeline, which is planned to traverse them. [4]

Although the difficult security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan are major obstacles for the completion of the project, once in place it could mean a serious blow to Moscow’s energy diplomacy, which has sought to monopolize exports of Central Asian gas to Europe in order to preserve an sphere of influence in the region while weakening NATO, with a special emphasis on reinforcing relations with Berlin and drawing it away from Washington. [5]

Although Japan’s contributions to Afghan infrastructure intend to “prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a breeding ground for terrorism,” they could in the long run also contribute to NATO cohesion in the face of renewed Russian expansionism, by contributing to the development and security of the regions through which TAPI will be built. [6]

2. Irrigation Canal in Eastern Afghanistan

It is not only official bodies which are active in Afghanistan; it is also a country where a number of Japanese NGOs have been present since the fall of the Taliban regime. Peshawar-kai, a Fukuoka-based NGO, has recently announced the completion of a 24 km-long irrigation canal in Eastern Afghanistan, a region often suffering from drought. Started in 2003, the canal will irrigate some 3,000 hectares of fields, making use of a number of reservoirs and small rivers. [7]

The water employed for irrigation is taken from the Kunar River, which is fed by melting snow and runs through northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. The canal has allowed a rise in the production of wheat, rice, and other crops in areas already irrigated. Peshawar-kai is also involved in the building of housing for local residents, to which control of the new infrastructure will be handed. [8]

The NGO’s involvement in the area will not come to an end with the completion of the canal. A physician, 62-year-old Tetsu Nakamura, will remain there, providing medical attention with the help of local support personnel. Another member of Peshawar-kai, agricultural specialist Kazuya Ito, was taken hostage and murdered by an armed group in August last year. [9]

Dr. Nakamura first became acquainted with Afghanistan thanks to his passion for mountain climbing, and in 1984 he started working as a volunteer at Mission Hospital Peshawar (across the border from Afghanistan), managed by the Japan Overseas Christian Medical Cooperative Service. As head of the hospital’s leprosy-control unit, he became an expert in the difficult health conditions of the region, and later organized emergency health centers catering to refugees fleeing from the Soviet forces. His commitment to the local population and interest in their cultures and languages earned him the respect of many factions, including the Taliban, who allowed him to operate medical facilities in territories under their control. [10]

NOTES

[1] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Completion of the Kandahar-Herat Highway,” MOFA website, July 7, 2009.

[2] Ibid.

[3] “Iran and Afghanistan,” Institute for the Study of War, undated; and Muhammad Tahir, “Iranian Involvement in Afghanistan,” Terrorism Monitor, Vol. 5, No. 1, February 21, 2007.

[4] Bruce Pannier, “Central Asia: Trans-Afghan Pipeline Discussions Open in Islamabad,” Radio Free Europe, April 24, 2008.

[5] Vladimir Socor, “Russia-Germany: An Asymmetric ‘Strategic Relationship,’” Eurasia Daily Monitor, Vol. 6, Issue 142, July 24, 2009; Sergei Blagov, “Russia Strengthens Clout with Energy,” ISN Security Watch, July 23, 2008; and Ida Garibaldi, “NATO and European Energy Security,” European Outlook, No. 1, March 2009.

[6] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Completion of the Kandahar-Herat Highway.”

[7] “Japanese NGO Completes Irrigation Canal Construction in Afghanistan,” Kyodo News, August 1, 2009.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Michael Penn, “Kazuya Ito: Pride of the Nation,” Shingetsu Newsletter No. 1131, September 3, 2008.

[10] “Citation for Tetsu Nakamura,” Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation website, August 31, 2003.