New Delhi, Aug. 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today promised Afghanistan that India would support its security against "externally sponsored instruments of violence and terror", in a barb at Pakistan also aimed at reassuring Kabul of a prompter response to its military needs than in the past.
Modi was speaking to Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani via videoconference at the inauguration of the renovated Stor Palace in Kabul that was built in 1880 but has twice been reduced to rubble in the wars that have plagued that country.
Indian experts worked with the Aga Khan Foundation to restore the palace and New Delhi picked up the $5.7 million tab for the renovation, originally announced by Modi's predecessor Manmohan Singh during a 2011 visit to Kabul.
The palace, which housed the Afghan foreign ministry till 1965, is now expected to host the office of Afghanistan's foreign minister and serve as a conference venue for the country's government.
"Let me assure the people of Afghanistan that in your quest to build a prosperous Afghanistan and to bring peace, security and stability to your society, the 1.25 billion people of India will always be on your side," Modi said, adding that it "saddens us to see that your proud nation continues to be challenged by externally sponsored instruments and entities of violence and terror".
Modi did not name Pakistan but the reference was unambiguous, and came at a time both New Delhi and Kabul are openly targeting Islamabad for its support to terror groups engaged in cross-border violence.
Modi has twice over the past fortnight referred to Pakistan's alleged human rights violations in the province of Balochistan, which also borders Afghanistan and Iran, following a diplomatic campaign by Islamabad against New Delhi against violent clashes in Kashmir. Ghani's predecessor as Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, had indicated support for Modi's move to publicly question Pakistan on Balochistan, but also cautioned against any proxy war in Afghanistan.
Ghani, last week, asked Pakistan to respect Afghanistan's "sovereignty".
"We don't expect Pakistan to bring us peace," Ghani had said. "We want Pakistan to banish those groups from its territory that fight against Afghanistan."
But Modi's comments also carried a message for the Afghanistan government, which has for years found its demand for military equipment to counter the Taliban and cross-border terror groups frustrated by bureaucratic red tape and diplomatic caution.
Though US President Barack Obama has signalled that America will continue with its military presence in Afghanistan into 2017, Kabul is preparing for the eventual withdrawal of these forces, which will force the Afghan National Army to defend the country on its own.
As a part of that - slow - transition, Afghanistan has been seeking helicopters, guns and ammunition from friends ranging from Russia to India, to fight the Taliban and the Haqqani terror network.
But till recently, India had remained unwilling to support Afghanistan militarily to avoid stoking Pakistan's concerns in the region. That changed with the delivery by India of four Mi-25 choppers to Afghanistan last December.
Today, Modi and Ghani also drew a longer historic lineage of relations between India and Afghanistan and a more recent series of projects there funded by New Delhi.
Ghani recalled that the palace, which in 1919 was the venue for signing of the Rawalpindi Agreement by which Afghanistan became a sovereign nation, was also where in 1915 the Indian government-in-exile of Raja Mahendra Pratap declared independence from the British.
Modi referred to recent meetings with Ghani: during his December visit to Kabul when the India-built Afghan Parliament was inaugurated, in May in Tehran when they joined Iran in signing a key transit agreement, and a June visit to Kabul to unveil the India funded Salma dam.
India is also funding the restoration of the Darul Aman Palace on the outskirts of Kabul, which too Modi and Ghani are expected to jointly inaugurate soon.
"Fewer things give greater joy than getting together with good friends to celebrate successful completion of joint initiatives," Modi told Ghani today. "You and I have been fortunate to have done so on important occasions in the past months."
Source:-telegraphindia
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