America and Britain invaded Afghanistan 10 years ago, for reasons which were understandable, to wage a short war that was unavoidable...What we have learned is that we hugely overestimated the capacity of our military, diplomatic and intelligence establishments to change other societies.

After 9/11 and the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, whereas India projected soft power into Afghanistan, having by now invested some $ 2 billion in reconstruction and infrastructure building in Afghanistan, Pakistan stuck to its old paradigm of offering safe havens to and supporting a proxy war by the Taliban and Haqqani network.

Those who doubt this need only look at the bipartisan public diplomacy failures of the last decade, or today at the critical elections in Egypt, where the U.S. has an astonishing lack of situational awareness and influence.

Wary of Pakistan, Indian officials have always said they want to focus on what they like to call “soft power” – economic aid and trade. The two leaders also agreed to closer co-operation in the strategically key sectors of oil and gas exploration, mining and infrastructure development, pledging to use India’s growing economic clout to foster trade and investment flows.

India has offered to train Afghan police to help them prevent future terrorist attacks in a move likely to be seen as highly provocative by long-time rival Pakistan. India has long maintained that its support for Afghanistan is civilian in nature and driven by what its officials call “civilisational links”.

One decade later, has anything changed? This question was asked over and over during the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Dubbed the world's first stealth concert, Sound Central is ready to rock the capital of Afghanistan. Founded by Australian Travis Beard, a photojournalist and guitarist in the Kabul-based rock band, White City, Sound Central is a rock music festival bringing artists from around Central Asia to Kabul for a groundbreaking modern music festival.