Tuesday, August 05, 2008

India To Provide $450 Million Fresh Assistance For Afghanistan

India To Provide $450 Million Fresh Assistance For Afghanistan August 5, 2008: New Delhi, India (AHN) - India on Monday announced fresh assistance of $450 million for the reconstruction of Afghanistan as the two countries vowed to fight terrorism jointly. After his talks with visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed the terror attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul last month as an attack on Indo-Afghan friendship. Afghan President Karzai arrived in the capital, New Delhi, on Sunday night for a two-day state visit from Colombo, where he attended the 15th SAARC summit. Singh reiterated India's commitment to Afghanistan's efforts to build a democratic and stable state and announced $450 million more for rebuilding the war-torn South Asian country. The additional assistance has taken India's total contribution to reconstruction of Afghanistan to $1.2 billion, making it one of the leading donors to that country. Condemning the embassy attack in Kabul as well as recent serial bombings in India's cities of Bangalore and Ahmedabad, Karzai said Afghanistan and India face the same challenge of terrorism and "cold-blooded murderous activities."

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