Army Chief Naravane on Tuesday (January 12) ruled out any plans of sending troops on the ground in Afghanistan

Indian Army Chief M M Naravane on Tuesday (January 12) ruled out any plans of sending troops on the ground in Afghanistan, reaffirming New Delhi's long-standing policy of "no boots on the ground".

In response to a question at his annual presser, General Naravane said, "As far as Afghanistan is concerned, there are no plans whatsoever to commit boots on the ground and neither do we envisage such a scenario developing in the near future".

This is not the first time such statement has come from India. In 2017, the then Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ruled out Indian troops on the ground. At that time, the Trump administration was keen India sent its forces. 

India has been Afghanistan's biggest development partner in the region. From mega infrastructure projects like the India Afghanistan friendship dam to the Afghan parliament to capacity building, India has been providing the country support since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Both sides are soon expected to sign an agreement on the building of the Shatoot dam that will provide safe drinking water to 2 million residents of Kabul city.