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India, Afghanistan to ink pacts during
Karzai's visit
Monday November 05, 2012 10:21:55 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: India and
Afghanistan will discuss prospects of enhancing Delhi's role in
training Afghan security forces and sign four pacts in diverse
areas, including mines and fertilisers, during Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to the country later this week.
India-educated Karzai begins his four-day visit to India from
Mumbai Nov 9 where he will interact with top Indian businessmen
and pitch for greater investment in Afghanistan.
In Mumbai, he will speak to investors and focus on how regional
economies can be integrated, Afghan Ambassador Shaida Mohammad
Abdali told reporters here Monday.
The envoy underlined that Karzai will be visiting India at "a
critical time" as international combat troops prepare to withdraw
from Afghanistan by 2014.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Karzai will hold wide-ranging
talks in New Delhi Nov 12.
Four MoUs will be signed between the two countries in areas of
mines, youth affairs, small development projects and fertilizers,
he said.
The envoy stressed that the visit will seek to intensify strategic
dialogue between India and Afghanistan on bilateral and regional
issues. He indicated that the two sides will be looking to step up
Indian training for Afghan national security forces.
"India has committed itself to strengthening the security of
Afghanistan," he said, alluding to the strategic partnership
agreement India and Afghanistan signed last year.
With the fragile security situation in his country as a backdrop,
the envoy called for intensifying international and regional
cooperation in combating terrorism in Afghanistan.
"We need to cooperate against combating terrorism. We don't have a
satisfactory situation so far. We still have pockets of insurgent
groups and sanctuaries of terror," he said.
Karzai's visit to India comes at a time when a resurgent Taliban
has escalated violence across the country, including in Bamiyan,
which was widely seen as the most peaceful region of Afghanistan.
Karzai will also be updating India on the progress in
reconciliation with the Taliban and preparations in his country
for elections in April 2014.
The Afghan envoy said talks are on with sections of the Taliban at
multiple levels. The focus, he said, was on engaging with "reconciliable
elements" of the Taliban.
India has reiterated many a time that any reconciliation with the
Taliban should follow the "red lines" that includes accommodating
only those Taliban elements who renounce links with al-Qaeda and
extremist outfits and those who accept Afghanistan's constitution.
Lauding India as a special friend of Afghanistan, Abdali said
India is "a reliable and all-season friend, which has been with
Afghanistan in good and bad times".
"India is focussing on life-changing initiatives for Afghanistan
and the region," he said.
India has pledged over $2 billion for a host of reconstruction
projects in Afghanistan, which has generated enormous goodwill in
that country.
Around 5,000 Indian nationals are engaged in a host of
reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.
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