INDIA: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on a four-day Indian visit says Afghanistan is ready for more Indian investment
Record ID:
1376912
INDIA: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on a four-day Indian visit says Afghanistan is ready for more Indian investment
- Title: INDIA: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on a four-day Indian visit says Afghanistan is ready for more Indian investment
- Date: 10th November 2012
- Summary: MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA (NOVEMBER 09, 2012) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN, HAMID KARZAI, ARRIVING AT A CONFERENCE KARZAI WALKING ONTO THE STAGE KARZAI TAKING HIS SEAT KARZAI SITTING KARZAI SPEAKING TO INDIA'S COMMERCE MINISTER, ANAND SHARMA AUDIENCE SITTING KARZAI WALKING TO THE PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN, HAMID KARZAI, SAYING: "I am here with a message from Afghanistan. That message is that Afghanistan is ripe and ready for Indian investment. Indeed, Afghanistan today is not only ripe and ready, but does offer opportunities to the Indian businesses for investment." (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN, HAMID KARZAI, SAYING: "The people of Afghanistan are not only aware, but also very grateful for (India's help). It is also a moral obligation and gratitude that should bind our industries and resources together for the good of both countries." KARZAI SHAKING HANDS WITH SHARMA KARZAI AND SHARMA SITTING
- Embargoed: 25th November 2012 20:15
- Keywords:
- Location: India
- Country: India
- Topics: International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA11YBNMZS90GQJVSCQRL3Q0JW1
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: Afghan President Hamid Karzai , on a four-day visit to India, said on Saturday (November 10) that his country was ready for more Indian investment to strengthen an economic alliance beneficial to both countries.
"I am here with a message from Afghanistan. That message is that Afghanistan is ripe and ready for Indian investment. Indeed, Afghanistan today is not only ripe and ready, but does offer opportunities to the Indian businesses for investment," Karzai said during a meeting in Mumbai.
India is one of the biggest donors in Afghanistan, spending about 2 billion U.S. dollars on projects ranging from the construction of highways to the building of the Afghan parliament. It has also won an iron ore concession in an 11 billion U.S. dollars investment.
India has urged its vast private sector to invest in Afghanistan as a low tariff destination, saying that could help stabilise the country as Western nations begin to pull back troops after nearly 11 years of support.
Karzai said that the Afghan people acknowledged India's help, and called for a more extensive continuation of the bilateral engagement.
"The people of Afghanistan are not only aware, but also very grateful for (India's help). It is also a moral obligation and gratitude that should bind our industries and resources together for the good of both countries," Karzai said.
Prior to the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001, India's arch-rival Pakistan held almost exclusive rights to trade with Afghanistan.
Now, Islamabad is deeply concerned about India's expanding role in Afghanistan, seeing it as a move to encircle it.
China has also signalled a desire to tap into Afghanistan's mineral reserves.
Both China and India have made little headway since, held back by security concerns, as well as poor infrastructure and logistics in the landlocked mountainous country.
Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst in years, raising concerns that newly minted Afghan security forces may struggle to hold their own against a raging Taliban insurgency and that parts of the country may slip into civil war after the Western withdrawal. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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