Foreign Secretary meets Karzai, Afghan presidential candidates

Sujatha Singh flew to Herat to review the situation following the May 23 attack on Indian consulate

A day after reviewing the security for Indian consulate in Herat, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh today met Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the two Presidential candidates here.

Singh, who flew to Herat yesterday to review the situation following the May 23 attack on Indian consulate, held meetings with Karzai and Presidential candidates Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani in the Afghan capital where they discussed key issues, including security of Indian assets in the country.

Afghanistan will see a run-off on June 14 between former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani to elect a successor to Karzai in the country's first democratic transfer of power.

The Foreign Secretary had yesterday met Governor of Herat Syed Fazullah Wahedi, Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Amar Sinha and other senior officials to take stock of the situation during her brief visit which lasted a few hours.

The Foreign Secretary met the brave staff including the ITBP security personnel who repelled the attack in which all the four terrorists were killed.

After the attack, security at the Indian Embassy in Kabul and consulates in Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif and Khandhar besides Herat has been beefed up and a high alert sounded to all Indian assets based across Afghanistan.

India is carrying out various development projects in Herat province including construction of Salma hydroelectric and irrigation dam project at the cost about $200 million.