Kabul, Moscow and Paris Club
Dr. G. Rauf Roashan
According to a recent report, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin
raised the debt repayment question with his Afghan counterpart Dr Anwarul
Haq Ahady during his official visit to Russia on August 17. Kudrin
dropped a broad hint at Russia taking the issue to Paris Club for arbitration.
At stake is a huge figure of $ 10 billion Russia claims Afghanistan
owes it from loans she received, for the most part during the years
Kremlin’s puppet regime was in power. 70 % of this money, according
to Russia was given in the form of fighter planes, other heavy weaponry,
spare parts and services of the Russian military experts. The other
30 % remains unexplained and probably consists of civilian program
aid for propagation of the regime’s proletariat objectives,
the cost of Soviet regime experts serving the cause of communism
in Afghanistan and reeducation of officials and the general public
to become functionaries of the regime.
This column has in the past written several articles on the issue
and has raised more than once the question of the need of looking
at the other side of the coin. The other side of the coin shows that
it was due to the Soviet schemes and its dream of expansionism that
inflicted misery and injury to the country and its residents when
Kremlin decided to install a puppet regime in Afghanistan. Soviet
Union wanted to use the regime as a steppingstone for its own centuries
old aspiration to reaching the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and
to finding of a pathway to the subcontinent, a prize of the great
game era.
It is doubtful if any record in the archives of the Afghan government
exists to show a detailed breakdown of any help or loan by the Soviet
Union or how the loan has been spent. Yet Russians may be able to
produce documents worked out in Russia about the so-called debt.
The Soviet system used its satellite protectorates as its own and
kept all records of transactions including commercial dealings on
its own soil. One example is the meters showing export of natural
gas from Afghanistan, which were installed on the Soviet side of
the border.
Earlier in the life of the transitional government in Afghanistan
the United States Secretary of the Treasury at a meeting with his
Russian counterpart had mentioned the need for extending of financial
help to the new democratic Afghanistan. In response and to evade
any positive commitment, the Russian side had pointed to the money
Afghanistan owed Russia, suggesting that after the issue was cleared
Russia would take part in the international drive to help in the
reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Presently many Afghan watchers are puzzled over the fact that knowing
the tactics of the Russian government, why would the Afghan Minister
of Finance make a trip to Moscow at this time. Would it not have
been more prudent to study all aspects of a meeting before participating
in it? Nevertheless, a “trip-happy” government of Afghanistan
did send a delegation for talks to Russia. The delegation has returned,
luckily, with a report of inconclusiveness of the subject of Afghan
debt, but a suggestion from the Russian finance minister of his government’s
intentions to approach the Paris Club for a settlement of the issue.
The Paris Club, an unofficial group is about half a century old.
The group meets about every six weeks and is attended by 19 people
from the world’s affluent countries. The Club studies issues
of repayment of debts with a view of finding solutions mostly to
satisfy the lender needs over an extended period of time. Its decisions
are not binding, but respected.
Regarding the financial issue between Afghanistan and Russia, especially
considering a counter proposal of war reparations Russia owes the
people of Afghanistan, the Paris Club will not be an appropriate
place. However, now that the Russian government has shown interest
in tackling the issue, the International Court of Justice at The
Hague seems a more appropriate venue. It is high time that the government
of Afghanistan should take the opportunity and take the case there.
To do this, the government on its own or with the help of Afghan
intelligentsia abroad, could work on developing a case which would
show in solid terms, moral, material and mental damages inflicted
on Afghans because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. There is
no denying the fact that the complete destruction of the country’s
infrastructure, including highways, roads, other communication facilities,
industries, agriculture, irrigational canals including subterranean
water channels, forests, education and health facilities were all
due to starting of a protracted war by the Soviet Union. Couple the
aforementioned with the mental suffering of huge masses of population,
almost ten millions, who were displaced both inside and outside the
country and millions of war casualties plus losses of lives due to
hunger, disease and lack of shelter, the war reparation cost will
amount to near hundreds of billions of dollars.
It is therefore time that the Afghan government should choose the
correct path of taking the case to the International Court of Justice
and let the world pass judgment over the issue. However, prior to
doing this, it should consult Afghan specialists who have already
worked and published their works on a variety of issues related to
the damages inflicted on Afghanistan because of the Soviet imposed
war and its consequences. 8/26/05
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