In 1979, it was one of the few countries to support the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan - a decision which made the country vastly unpopular in that country.
A decade later, it continued to back the Communist-regime of President Najibullah, while Pakistan threw its entire support behind the ethnic Pashtun mujahideen warlords, particularly the Islamist Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Source:
BBC NEWS | South Asia | India renews historic Afghan ties
Completely wrong, India never supported the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan nor even Soviet interference into Afghan internal Affairs. in 1979, Morarji Desai was the PM till July 79 and he criticized the overthrow of the local communist govt. by Soviet minders and asked USSR to refrain from interfering in Afghanistan ON Soviet soil.
Again in 1980, India formally asked USSR to withdraw its troops after the invasion taking a position against the troop involvement in Afghanistan by USSR.
Read this article in 1980 edition of Washington Post where the Indian move was seen as a surprise because India-Soviet relations had been close.
Lewiston Morning Tribune - Google News Archive Search
We know how to handle with Afghans and this is something which Russians, Indians and Americans do not. We have defeated an empire in Afghanistan before and we are going to defeat another one soon. I know you guys don't like that but sorry but one has to live with reality.
Pakistan never had friendly relations with Afghanistan. It was the only country to vote AGAINST Pakistan being recognized as an independent nation in the UN in 1948.
Since its independence Afghanistan has been hostile to Pakistan, weather it be under the Monarchy, the revolutionary government, the communist government or now.
Only the Taliban period gave Pakistan a psychological feeling of security and that too it was more about the Taliban gaining strategic depth in Pakistan rather than the other way around. You can read up on the economic and security losses due extremism and smuggling Pakistan suffered in the 1990s.
India on the other hand has always had favorable relations from the time of Zahir Shah till Najibullah the last ruler who could have saved Afghanistan from tearing itself apart in ethnic and religious extremism that followed. For a brief period, in the 1990s, Taliban had major influence in most of Afghanistan, but Iran, Central Asian countries and even Turkey to an extent worked with India to support the Northern Alliance and leaders like
Ahmed Shah Mehsood, the person who played a major role in kicking out the Soviets without any CIA sponsored Pakistani help and currently decorated as the national hero of Pakistan.
Post 2001, the balance was restored to its historical context where India had good relations with Afghanistan.