New Delhi
24 August 2005
Afghan ambassador in India Masood Khalili on Wednesday told this newspaper that Kabul is also keen on forging linkages with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and a land corridor via Afghanistan could facilitate trade between south and central Asia.
"A strategic relationship [when established] would not be at the expense of regional countries; it will benefit all," Mr Khalili said before leaving for Kabul ahead of Prime Minister Singh's visit.
The envoy would not elaborate on the discussions for security cooperation between India and Afghanistan but observed nevertheless that "India is a friend on call" and given the new depth in Indo-US ties, "India will offer its services [for security in Afghanistan] if NATO and American forces [ask for it.]"
Appreciating India's support to reconstruction of war-torn Afghanistan, Mr Khalili said New Delhi had extended an aid worth US $ 500 million including supply of three aircraft with spares, construction of a cold storage in Kandahar and television transmitter in Jalalabad.
Observing that India was a "balancer" of power in the region extending from South Asia to Central Asia, the envoy said India had a key role to play in ensuring that "super-fanaticism" of the kind advocated by Al Qaeda and the Taliban did not resurface in Afghanistan.
Mr Khalili said India had also agreed to contribute to strengthening of democratic institutions in Afghanistan. Incidentally, Dr Singh's visit to Kabul comes ahead of the September 18 parliamentary elections.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be visiting Kabul at the invitation of President Karzai. The last such visit was 29 years ago when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited Kabul in 1976.
Dr Singh will hold official-level talks with President Karzai and would call on Baba-e-Millat and former King Mohd Zahir Shah. He will lay the foundation stone for a Parliament building, to be constructed with India's assistance.
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