King Julien
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NEW DELHI: India and Afghanistan have decided to establish a new dialogue architecture to further improve bilateral ties and bring renewed focus to rebuilding and restoration of the war-ravaged country.
At a meeting between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his Afghan counterpart, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, late on Tuesday, the two sides agreed to set up an India-Afghanistan Partnership Council that will consist of seven groups.
The intention behind initiating official-level dialogue in the seven areas political consultation, capacity development and education, power and water, culture, trade and industry, health and agriculture is to harness greater institutional support for implementing ongoing programmes and expand development, cooperation between the two countries, said a joint statement issued after the interaction between the Ministers.
The dialogue will cover most of the areas where India is assisting Afghanistan. With about 4,000 Indians in Afghanistan, India is building several key roads, helping Kabul build its new parliament building, train Afghan police officers, diplomats and civil servants and provide support in health, education, transportation, power and telecommunications.
The resolve to set up new avenues for talks takes forward the high-level interaction between the two sides earlier this year, a few months after the Mumbai attacks, during which the focus was on terrorism. This time too, both sides highlighted terrorism as the most important security threat facing the region and reiterated their resolve to combat it. The Afghanistan Foreign Minister called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and met National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan to discuss a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues of mutual interest. With a few weeks left before Afghanistan votes, Dr. Singh expressed Indias support for building a democratic and pluralistic nation.
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