Karzai opens India-funded varsity in Kandahar

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): President Hamid Karzai on Saturday inaugurated the country’s first-ever agricultural university in southern Kandahar province.

Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid and a number of ministers and officials joined Karzai at the inauguration ceremony.

Karzai said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had pledged three years back during a visit to Afghanistan to build the university in the province.

The university would be a leading agricultural and technological institute in the region, the president said, praising New Delhi’s cooperation with his country.

Karzai acknowledged India had been extending his administration valuable help in different areas, specifically facilitating Afghans in the education sector.  

Speaking on the occasion, Khurshid hoped the university would play a significant role in ensuring progress and prosperity in Afghanistan.

Delhi would continue to cooperate with Afghanistan in the education sector, he promised, saying 2,000 Afghan students were receiving education at various Indian universities.

Local and foreign teachers would teach in agricultural and technological fields at university that would promote the country’s agriculture sector, he added.

Classes at the $100 million Agriculture Sciences and Technology University would be arranged at the Agriculture and Livestock Institute, built by Canada, for two to three years until a new building is constructed.

rm/mud

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