AMRITSAR: To counter terror in the region, a bilateral meeting was held here today in the Heart of Asia conference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan president Ashraf Ghani.
In a tweet, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India Vikas Swarup said, “The two leaders discussed several aspects of the close and friendly relations between the two countries.’’
“The two leaders noted with satisfaction the prospects for bilateral relations and agreed that both countries would continue to work ever harder for further strengthening them,” he stated.
Swarup tweeted that both Indian and Afghanistan leaders exchanged views on the common threat of terrorism, especially the cross-border nature of the scourge which had caused immense suffering to the people of India and Afghanistan.”
The two leaders also agreed to strengthen counter-terror cooperation between the two countries, and enhance "coordination at the UN."
He said that the leaders also reviewed the progress on recent decisions to deepen bilateral economic cooperation and strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.
A tweet further stated that they also agreed to operationalise the additional amount of $1 billion for bilateral cooperation, especially in capacity building, skill development, infrastructure building and connectivity linkages, including through a possible air corridor between India and Afghanistan to overcome obstacles to the promotion of bilateral trade.
Modi expressed the hope that the ministerial conference would be successful in promoting greater cooperation among all concerned for peace, stability and security and development of Afghanistan.
Later, Modi and Ghani jointly inaugurated the sixth Ministerial Conference of Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process, which will witness the participation of eight foreign ministers and other dignitaries of 14 other participating countries.