New Delhi: India has invested more than USD 3 billion in Afghanistan for the welfare of its people, said Minister of External Affairs V. Muraleedharan in Lok Sabha on Friday.

Replying to a question in the Lower House of Parliament on investment in Afghanistan, the MoS said, "India has been engaged in a development partnership with Afghanistan, which includes more than five hundred projects spread across each of the 34 provinces of the country in critical areas of power, water supply, road connectivity, healthcare, education, agriculture and capacity building."

"In all, more than USD 3 billion have been invested in the welfare of the people of Afghanistan."

Furthermore, talking about the present status of all developmental projects which were under construction while the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the minister said that the vast majority of the projects committed to by the Government of India in Afghanistan have been completed and handed over.

"As a neighbour and long-standing partner of Afghanistan, India is concerned about recent developments in Afghanistan, and will continue to monitor the situation there," he added.

Notably, the Taliban took over control of Kabul on August 15 last year, and following this, the country has been battered by a deepening economic, humanitarian and security crisis.

A combination of a suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and international sanctions on the Taliban have plunged the country, which was already suffering from high poverty levels, into a full-blown economic crisis.