Afghan President Ashraf Ghani To Visit India Tomorrow
Ghani is set to arrive in New Delhi tomorrow at 8:00 AM IST and will call on the EAM (External Affairs Minister) Sushma Swaraj at 10:00. Later on, he will call on the President at 11:00 Am at Rashtrapati Bhawan followed by a meeting with PM Modi at 12:30 and delegation level talks after that.
The invitation on behalf of Prime Minister Modi for President Ghani to visit India was extended by the National Security Adviser of India when the latter visited Kabul on 16 October.
As per MEA (Ministry Of External Affairs) reports, the visit will build upon the recent high level bilateral exchanges between the two countries, including the recent visits of Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive of Afghanistan and that of the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Mr Salahuddin Rabbani to India for the meeting of the bilateral Strategic Partnership Council which was co-chaired by EAM.
“Both sides will have the opportunity to review the entire gamut of multifaceted bilateral strategic partnership, including the New Development Partnership; hold consultations and coordinate on furthering the shared objective of promoting peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and efforts to combat the menace of terrorism; and discuss regional and global issues of mutual interest,” an MEA press release said.
India and Afghanistan enjoy deep-rooted civilizational links. India has been partnering with the Government and the people of Afghanistan in their efforts to building a stable, peaceful, prosperous, united and pluralistic country.
The bilateral trade at 683.02 million US$ for 2013-14 ($ 474.25 million export and $ 208.77 million import by India) is at a modest level given the vast potential between two countries.
India, under small development projects (SDPs) Phase I& II (US$ 20 million) and Phase III (US$ 100 million) along with Ministry of Economy of Afghanistan has undertaken/committed more than 200 projects of small projects with less gestation period covering Public Health, Education, and community infrastructure in various provinces of Afghanistan.
