New Delhi, August 4
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai today came calling on Manmohan Singh to personally condole the Indian leadership over the July 7 car bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul and the serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad as the two leaders expressed their firm resolve to fight terrorism unitedly.
And clearly demonstrating that New Delhi would not be deterred by incidents like the embassy bombing and fulfil all its commitments to Afghanistan, Manmohan Singh pledged an additional amount of $450 million over and above the existing $750 million to meet the requirements of India’s ongoing and upcoming projects in the war-ravaged nation.
The two leaders met here a day after they together forcefully brought the issue of terrorism on top of the SAARC agenda at its two-day summit, which concluded in Colombo. Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had to face the ire of both Manmohan Singh and Karzai over his government’s failure to rein in terrorists during his bilateral meetings with them on the margins of the SAARC summit.
The Afghan president, who arrived here last night from Colombo, also had meetings with President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President M.H. Ansari and other Indian leaders.
A joint statement issued at the end of his talks with Manmohan Singh said: “India reiterated its full support to the goal of sovereign, democratic, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan, conducive to the peace, security and stability of the region.”
The focus during the Manmohan-Karzai talks was on the twin issue of the fight against terrorism and development of Afghanistan. “The attack on our embassy in Kabul on July 7 has tragically shown terrorism has no barriers, and is not bound by any restraints. It was an attack on the friendship between India and Afghanistan,” Manmohan Singh said.
He said he and Karzai have agreed that they would not allow terrorism to stand in their way and would fight the scourge unitedly and with full determination.
Noting that the Zaranj-Delaram road link had been completed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), Manmohan Singh told Karzai that it would soon be handed over to the Afghan authorities. External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to shortly visit Afghanistan to formally inaugurate the road project.
Karzai, on his part, thanked India for the massive rehabilitation and reconstruction programme it has undertaken in his embattled nation. “Afghanistan will stand resolutely with our friends in India in fighting the menace of terrorism; Afghanistan stands resolutely with our allies in the conduct of war against terrorism,” he reassured Manmohan Singh.
