India Pledges $1 Billion In Aid To Afghanistan

Sending out a strong message to Pakistan, India and Afghanistan called for an end to all support, sponsorship and safe havens to terrorists.

In the latest sign that India and Afghanistan are continuing to strategically converge, New Delhi committed to providing Kabul with $1 billion in economic aid.

In an apparent dig at Pakistan, India today said while it has always worked towards Afghanistan’s development, there are some who have given the country only “bloodshed and violence”.

The shift in policy was the result of India de-hyphenating the relationship with Afghanistan from Pakistan and transferring lethal military equipment to Kabul.

The President stressed the significance of the Prime Minister’s assurance conveyed during the joint inauguration of Storay Palace on 22 August 2016 via a video link that 1.25 billion people of India firmly stand with their Afghan brothers and sisters.

Prime Minister Modi, who will hold close consultations with Ghani, will also be hosting a lunch for the visiting President. India and Afghanistan also made a decision to strengthen security and defence cooperation.

Blaming the media for not exposing about the war inside the Pakistan territory, Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday said that there is no political framework to deal with the issue.

India’s renewed support for Afghanistan will be especially crucial in the current context given the ongoing intensification of the Taliban’s offensive across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi received Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani here on Wednesday after his arrival here prior in the day on his second official visit to India. These were on an extradition treaty, cooperation in civil and commercial matters, and cooperation in outer space. They said the project was vital for both India and Afghanistan as it would increase connectivity within the region.

In his address at the event, Minister of State of External Affairs V.K. Singh said the strategic partnership between India and Afghanistan had been growing steadily and now was the time to take trade and investment between the two countries to the next level.

However, the two countries did not make any reference to military assistance that Afghanistan has requested from India. A joint forum of important stakeholders, including from business, is to meet soon. The Afghanistan Government will continue to do everything possible to ensure their security. Modi invited Ghani to grace the inauguration of the Amritsar Ministerial Conference which the President accepted.

In response, the President of Afghanistan said it was their duty and responsibility to protect Indian Consulates and nationals. “South Asia has this misfortune”, Ghani said while delivering a lecture on the topic “Fifth Wave of Political Violence and Global Terrorism” at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.