'It's As Safe As Delhi Or Bombay'

Our company, which has 800 vsat installations across Afghanistan, has posted 25 Indians there and also employs another 25 Afghanis and Pakistanis. There's tremendous goodwill for Indians in Kabul, and it translates in a personal manner. For example, a local dhaba will not charge you for food or will give free helpings. The Afghans are crazy about Hindi films. The locals keep asking the same questions—do you know Sunil Shetty or Shahrukh Khan? Almost every Afghan I met seemed influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and Guru Nanak (called Baba Nanak there). Because of these reason, Indians feel safe in Kabul. They live comfortably as the quality of life is better and cheaper. They earn twice what they can in India and also save their entire salaries as everything else like housing, food and travel is provided by the employer.

When I go to Kabul, I party a lot with my employees. There are several pubs and restaurants in the city; even alcohol is available quite freely, unlike in the Middle East. Now you can get Indian, Italian, all kinds of food. But all the Chinese restaurants were closed down as some of them were fronts for the flesh trade. So, there's a sense of stability and peace in Kabul, which is much safer than many parts of India. So are most of the northern and central parts. There are stray incidents, but that can happen in any city like Delhi or Mumbai. It's the southern parts, which share the border with Pakistan and are supposed to house Taliban bases, that are troublesome and unsafe. There are some tensions between the Indians and the Pathans for historical reasons.

But we do take precautions. All employees have to get back to the guest house by 8 pm. We hire gun-toting private security guards. We advise employees to travel in pairs, and we employ drivers who own their own cars and, hence, are more responsible. For installations outside Kabul, we employ locals, especially those living around the project site. When Indians have to travel outside Kabul, we're careful. For instance, when we were doing a project in Kandahar for the US air force, our employees travelled in the air force planes. Most Indian private firms opt for local partners for additional security and clout. Even we have tied up with a Afghani company.

Afghanistan has lost its middle class, the backbone of morality in any society, in the various wars. So, the Afghans have no faith in the future and their behaviour is dictated by the short term. Most won't consider the long-term implications of their actions. Pakistan is perceived as a trouble-maker and people suspect its intentions. This gives India an opportunity to win the hearts and minds of the Afghans. But I will not risk serious money in Afghanistan because the returns are better in India.