PATIL ASSURES INDIA`S FULL SUPPORT IN RE-BUILDING AFGHANISTAN
New Delhi August 5:
Unfazed by the last month's terror attack on Indian mission in Kabul, President Pratibha Patil said India would continue to work for the prosperity of the war-ravaged country.
"The attack on our Embassy last month on July 7 was a barbaric act of terrorism. It was an attempt directed to undermining the friendly relations between India and Afghanistan," Patil said in her banquet speech welcoming the Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Stating that the bonds between the two countries are dictated by geography and forged by history, Patil said India too shared the pain of the Afghan people. "We have also shared the pain of the Afghan people caused by years of conflict and destruction. We have directly felt the tragic consequences when your land was used as a safe haven for training terrorists," she said.
Taking a strong stand against "people who do not share the vision of a stable and democratic Afghanistan", she said Karzai's visit "is a demonstration that such attempts will not, and cannot, succeed and that our friendship has emerged stronger from this most unfortunate tragedy (bomb attack)."
She said India's partnership with Afghanistan has grown into a multi-dimensional cooperation programme encompassing education, health, telecommunications, transport, civil aviation, agriculture and irrigation among other capacity building and human resource development.
Calling the morning announcement of an additional pledge of USD 450 million as a mark of country's "affirmation of support" to Kabul, the President said, "I reaffirm our commitment in working together to support you in your efforts in making Afghanistan a stable and prosperous country." Patil also said that SAARC became a truly South Asian Association only after Afghanistan joined it.
She said the country admires the progress made by Afghanistan over the last six years in rebuilding their lives as well as in rebuilding the physical and human infrastructure of Afghanistan. "We have noted with great admiration the school enrolment figures, the percentage of populace covered by basic health care, the thousands of kilometers of roads that have been rebuilt, the significant drop in infant and maternal mortality rates, as well as the large number of communities being serviced under the National Solidarity Programme," she said.
New Delhi August 5:
Unfazed by the last month's terror attack on Indian mission in Kabul, President Pratibha Patil said India would continue to work for the prosperity of the war-ravaged country.
"The attack on our Embassy last month on July 7 was a barbaric act of terrorism. It was an attempt directed to undermining the friendly relations between India and Afghanistan," Patil said in her banquet speech welcoming the Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Stating that the bonds between the two countries are dictated by geography and forged by history, Patil said India too shared the pain of the Afghan people. "We have also shared the pain of the Afghan people caused by years of conflict and destruction. We have directly felt the tragic consequences when your land was used as a safe haven for training terrorists," she said.
Taking a strong stand against "people who do not share the vision of a stable and democratic Afghanistan", she said Karzai's visit "is a demonstration that such attempts will not, and cannot, succeed and that our friendship has emerged stronger from this most unfortunate tragedy (bomb attack)."
She said India's partnership with Afghanistan has grown into a multi-dimensional cooperation programme encompassing education, health, telecommunications, transport, civil aviation, agriculture and irrigation among other capacity building and human resource development.
Calling the morning announcement of an additional pledge of USD 450 million as a mark of country's "affirmation of support" to Kabul, the President said, "I reaffirm our commitment in working together to support you in your efforts in making Afghanistan a stable and prosperous country." Patil also said that SAARC became a truly South Asian Association only after Afghanistan joined it.
She said the country admires the progress made by Afghanistan over the last six years in rebuilding their lives as well as in rebuilding the physical and human infrastructure of Afghanistan. "We have noted with great admiration the school enrolment figures, the percentage of populace covered by basic health care, the thousands of kilometers of roads that have been rebuilt, the significant drop in infant and maternal mortality rates, as well as the large number of communities being serviced under the National Solidarity Programme," she said.
