Kabul to overcome terror threat, hopes Delhi

NEW DELHI (PAN and hoped that the war-torn nation would overcome the challenge of terrorism.

Hosting a banquet for his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Karim Khalili, Hamid Ansari said: “I am happy that our partnership has become multi-dimensional as captured in the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed between our two countries in October 2011.”

The agreement articulated the areas of future cooperation between the two countries and India remained committed to implementing it in its true spirit, he added.

Welcoming Khalili and members of his delegation, the VP said: “Terrorism, a menace for us all, threatens Afghanistan even more directly. We have also faced the consequences of a great land like yours being used as a safe haven for training terrorists.

“We know that the fight against terrorism is not an easy one but we are also convinced that given political will and determination, we can overcome this challenge,” he explained.

Ansari remarked bonds between Afghanistan and India were dictated by geography and forged by history. “Our shared cultural traditions have been enriched by this interaction. A part of our very first Vedic text, the Rig Veda, is said to have been composed in Afghanistan.”

He said Afghanistan — once a crossroads and centre of international trade and commerce — was currently facing several challenges and India shared the pain of the Afghan people caused by years of conflict and destruction.

Over the past decade, he continued, India applauded the Afghan people’s achievements in rebuilding, not just the physical but also the social infrastructure of their country.

The progress in building democratic structures, various institutions of governance, health‘s empowerment had been commendable, but much more needed to be done, he believed.

Ansari promised India would continue to work with the government and people of Afghanistan in rebuilding their country as a stable, democratic, pluralistic and prosperous society.

“India does not have an exit strategy. With the conviction that we shared a common past and that we are destined to share a common future, India will continue to contribute, within its capabilities, to the rebuilding of Afghanistan,” he concluded.

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