PM Modi, Afghanistan President Ghani hold talks

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Afghanistan, Dr. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, on Wednesday reviewed the progress of the multi-faceted India-Afghanistan strategic partnership. President Ghani is in India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During their talk, both leaders expressed satisfaction at the increase in bilateral trade that has crossed the USD 1 billion mark. According to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the two leaders appreciated the successful conclusion of the India-Afghanistan trade and investment show in Mumbai from September 12-15, 2018 and expressed determination to strengthen connectivity, including through Chabahar port and Air-Freight Corridor.

It was agreed to deepen the New Development Partnership in the areas of high impact projects in this field of infrastructure, human resources development and other capacity building projects in Afghanistan.

President Ghani briefed Prime Minister Modi on the initiatives taken by his government towards peace and reconciliation and also in confronting the challenges of terrorism and extremism imposed on Afghanistan and its people.

According to MEA, Prime Minister Modi reiterated India's support to an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace and reconciliation process that would enable Afghanistan to continue as a united, peaceful, inclusive and democratic nation and emerge as an economically vibrant country.

"The Prime Minister emphasized India's unwavering commitment to support the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan to this end, as also for the security and sovereignty of Afghanistan. He unequivocally condemned terrorist attacks and violence in Afghanistan which have caused immense loss of precious human lives and expressed solidarity with the people and national defence forces of Afghanistan in their fight against terrorism," MEA said in a statement.

It added that while expressing satisfaction at the coordination and consultation on activities at various international fora, the two sides agreed to strengthen this cooperation and also work even more closely with their regional and international partners for prosperity, peace, stability and progress.