Indian engineers, supervisors building Afghan Parliament

A team of Indian engineers and supervisors are working diligently to build a new parliament in Afghanistan's capital Kabul.

The project is being seen as a bid to boost bilateral ties between the two countries.

The team comprising 50 workers from different states of India said they were facing no problems, and added that Afghanistan has always been friendly towards Indians.

"We want the relations between the two countries to remain good and they will remain so. Since the beginning, our relationship with Afghanistan has been good and they will be the same in the future as well," they said.

"We feel good. There is no problem. We are facing no difficulties," said supervisor, Angrez Singh Jasotia.

The team members said people in Afghanistan were treating them well and they felt secure in the nation.

"We have internal security. All our Indian brothers, we are keeping all of them safe. Yes, the area is a little dangerous, but we are not feeling unsafe. It is good here," said a security guard, Ram Prakash.

The parliament building will be the most prominent symbol of Indian efforts to help Afghanistan.

Its foundation stone was laid by the last king of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah, in presence of President Hamid Karzai and then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2005.

The construction began in 2009 and efforts are underway to complete project by this year end.

In a bid to boost ties, India also trains military officers from Afghanistan and has increased the number to nearly 1,100 this year from last year's 574.

However, militants have repeatedly attacked Indian targets in Afghanistan.

Last month, a handful of heavily armed insurgents, including suicide bombers, had launched a rocket propelled grenade and gun attack on the Indian consulate in Afghanistan's western city of Herat.

The attack underscored a worrying security picture as Afghanistan prepares to take over from foreign combat troops after more than 12 years of war against a Taliban insurgency.