Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) India has reiterated its long-term commitment to partnership with Afghanistan during a recent three-day visit to Kabul by Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai that ended Thursday.

A ministry of external affairs release said here that Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whom Mathai met Wednesday, emphasised that terrorism and extremism posed a threat to not only the two countries but to the entire region and the world at large.

“In this context, both sides condemned the terror attack in Kabul city on Sep 13,” the release said.

This was Mathai’s first visit to Kabul after taking over as foreign secretary.

He also reviewed with Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin the entire gamut of bilateral relations apart from regional and global issues of mutual interest.

“Both sides expressed their continuing commitment to the strategic partnership between the two countries which would enhance regional cooperation,” the release said.

Ludin emphasised the importance of India’s role in the forthcoming Istanbul and Bonn conferences on Afghanistan later this year.

Mathai had also met Afghan First Vice President Marshal Qasem Fahim, Second Vice President Abdul Karim Khalili, Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul, National Security Advisor Dadfar Rangeen Spanta, and Mines Minister Wahidullah Shahrani.

India has already pledged $2 billion for Afghanistan’s development projects and it is also keen on investments in the mineral-rich nation that has become the battleground in the global war on terror.