External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a one-day visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday. The Minister will be in Kabul to inaugurate the new Indian Embassy building and review reconstruction projects being implemented by India in Afghanistan. She will also interact with President Hamid Karzai and hold discussions related to enhancing Defence and security assistance from India.
Afghanistan has been seeking military hardware from India to strengthen its forces as the NATO forces start withdrawing from the country this year end.
Besides enhancing ties, it is believed that the Minister will also use the opportunity to assess the political situation in Afghanistan which will soon witness a change of president. Former Foreign Ministers Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani are in the Presidential race and the polls results are likely to be announced soon.
Swaraj said India will extend cooperation to whoever becomes the President of the country. “We had not declared anybody to be our favourite in the election. Be it Abdullah Abdullah or Ashraf Gani, we will work with whoever becomes the President,” the minister said.
Swaraj said the new government will continue supporting Afghanistan the reconstruction process. “In Afghanistan, our people are working, risking their lives. We have an age old relationship with Afghanistan and no shortcomings will come in the way,” Swaraj said. India has invested $2 billion in aid and reconstruction and trained several Afghan officers. India is building the South-Western Afghanistan highway between Zaranj to Delaram and the Afghan Parliament building.
Incidentally, Swaraj’s visit comes closer to the deadline for releasing results of a United Nations-backed vote audit for Afghanistan’s election that concluded in June.
Afghanistan has refused to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the US that could have paved the way for stay of limited number of US troops in Afghanistan even after the withdrawal of NATO forces. Karzai has been demanding that the US must put an immediate end to military raids on Afghan homes and demonstrate its commitment to peace talks before he would sign the agreement.