Afghanistan seeks India's help to empower women

Afghan First Lady Rula Ghani on Thursday sought India's help to impart skill training to women back home in a bid to empower them.

In an interactive session organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation here, Rula Ghani said India has a lot of women entrepreneurs and maybe some of them can train women in Afghanistan.

"Women (in Afghanistan) need to be trained but they may not be able to visit India due to financial problem or their families may not allow them to leave the country but maybe somebody can go from here (India) for a week at a time to train them," said Rula Ghani, wife of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani.

"A woman is not respected unless she is a productive member of society and that means she has to produce something... no matter how much she toils at home, nobody is going to recognise that.

"If she learns to do some embroidery or other skills which she can use then she can earn the respect of others. I am here to try and explore opportunities," she said adding that "mindsets need to be changed".

Rula Ghani said the new government in Afghanistan was determined to ensure "serious development" as the country has a "long way to go before it can provide comfort to its citizens".

"Afghanistan is entering a new phase and there is a lot of thinking. 90 percent of our population needs help but we will develop sure."

She also mentioned the close historical ties between India and Afghanistan.

"The two countries have been so close in history and we have many common ties historically and culturally," Rula Ghani said, adding that Bollywood films were "very popular" in Afghanistan.