India to pledge Afghanistan more aid

[faye]

also 500 million usd is nothing when india spends around 30-50 billion usd per year on defence, another billion on space
also huge amount for it's new international standard airports in delhi , plus huge expenditure on infra structure for it's top cities, when no one raises issue on this matters,how do you expect people to rise issue on mere 500 dollar aid.

also all this money india spends is its own, doesn't get any donation unlike some other countries

yes, yes, noddle, noddle,

[sthek]

^^
:p

[Espresso]

Indian PM Dr Manmohan Singh given ceremonial reception - Kabul

YouTube - Indian PM Dr Manmohan Singh given ceremonial reception - Kabul

[faye]

^^
we have separate budget for foreign ,internal matters.india does have it's poverty but any means it's no poor country,there are enough funds to remove it's poverty if corruption can be avoided,also all the top richest people in asia come from india,dunno when you have visited india,it's a big country,majority of population are middle class

so how are they categorising 'middle class' in india, these days. those living on more than 10rps a day?

[khashayar]

^lol

[Espresso]

Time for India to squeeze Pakistan out of Afghanistan

DNA / Friday, May 13, 2011 4:33 IST

Shortly before prime minister (PM) Manmohan Singh left for Kabul, he said: “We are people of the same region. We cannot remain unaffected by developments in Afghanistan.” Rather than Afghanistan, however, the ‘development’ he must have had in mind was the killing of Osama bin Laden, an event that has significantly altered Pakistan’s relations with friends and foes alike.
Though India remains on the path of dialogue, the PM’s Kabul visit has a symbolic significance. Pre-Osama, Islamabad might have pressurised Washington to keep Delhi’s activities in Kabul limited. Recall the London Conference on Afghanistan in Jan 2010, where Pakistan effectively sidelined India. Post-Osama, Pakistan’s sensitivities (on India’s role in Afghanistan) appear to impact the West less.
That Osama found shelter in Pakistan for six years has enraged American lawmakers and severely disgruntled the US administration. But as calls for a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan reaches a crescendo, the US finds itself in a bind: leaving would create a vacuum which the Pakistani Army desperately wants to fill. It is in this atmosphere of transnational distrust that Manmohan Singh spends 48 hours in Kabul.
Ever since the US gained a foothold in Afghanistan in 2001, India has been relegated to a role of building roads and infrastructure. Only now is the government talking of building a more ‘strategic’ relationship. Though the PM carries with him the promise of multi-million dollar projects, the strategy that he and Afghan president Hamid Karzai can adopt is only one: to keep Pakistan out of Afghanistan. It is high time that the geographical squeeze which India and Afghanistan have on their neighbour be made a literal one.

URL of the article: Time for India to squeeze Pakistan out of Afghanistan - India - DNA

[faye]

america probably told india to do that.

[Espresso]

Singh: India supports Afghan reconciliation with Taliban

May 12, 2011, 14:44 GMT

Kabul - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Thursday that his country strongly supported reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban and that it was the time to put an end to the country's suffering.
Singh held talks in Kabul with President Hamid Karzai and his cabinet ministers at the start of a two-day visit.
'We strongly support the Afghan people's quest for peace and reconciliation,' Singh told a gathering attended by foreign diplomats at the fortified presidential palace.
'India supports the unity, integrity and prosperity of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has endured great suffering and violence. The time has come to put an end to this violence. Afghanistan should be allowed to rebuild itself in the way the Afghan people want it to be,' he said.
New Delhi had staunchly opposed any dialogue with the Taliban for years, saying the Taliban were deeply linked to terrorism.
Indian officials feared close ties between the Taliban leadership and Pakistan would leave India sidelined after the departure of NATO forces.
Indications from the US and other NATO countries of a withdrawal by the end of 2014, with the Taliban still a force to be reckoned with, appear to have prompted an Indian change of stance.
Karzai told the gathering that his country knew the 'Indian government and people support the lasting peace and security in our country.'
Karzai has repeatedly called on Taliban insurgents and their leaders to renounce violence and join the peace process announced by his government. But the Taliban rejected his overtures, conditioning their readiness to any negotiation on withdrawal of all 140,000 US- led forces from the country.
It is Singh's first visit to Afghanistan in six years and comes less than two weeks after US forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
Karzai said that the killing of al Qaeda's leader, in Pakistan, showed that the war on terror was not in Afghanistan, calling on Pakistan to join his country and India to conduct joint struggle against extremism in the region.
'Terrorism can not be beneficial to any entity or country,' Karzai told a joint press conference in his palace. 'It (terrorism) is like a snake. The snake does not have friends of foes. If it can sting, it will sting wherever it goes.'
Echoing Karzai's comments, Singh said that the death of bin Laden has created a chance for the region's countries to work together to bring security to their peoples.
'I sincerely hope that all the countries of this region - Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India - would recognize that this is a unique moment in the history of this region, therefore we all should agree to work unitedly to end this scourge of terrorists.'
India is one of the leading donors in Afghanistan. Singh announced a fresh Indian aid package of 500 million dollars for Afghanistan, with a focus on the public sectors. The new aid raised the total amount India has pledged to the war-torn country since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001 to 2 billion dollars.
India has funded construction of a highway that links western Afghanistan to neighbouring Iran, a hydropower plant in the west and construction of the parliament building in Kabul, among other projects.
'India is your neighbour and your partner in development. You can count on us as you build your society, your economy and your polity,' Singh said.
In a joint declaration, the two countries agreed to establish a strategic partnership under a council to be headed by foreign ministries of the both states, a statement issued by the presidential palace said.
The partnership will cover areas such as security, law enforcement and justice, including an enhanced focus on cooperation in the fight against international terrorism, it said.
The visit is being watched closely in Islamabad, where officials have expressed dissatisfaction with their regional rival's increasingly close ties with the Karzai administration.
New Delhi and Kabul have accused elements within the Pakistani government of sponsoring two attacks against India's embassy in Kabul.
Singh is expected to address Afghan's parliament on Friday for a special session, despite the day being a holiday in Afghanistan.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/ne...n-with-Taliban

[ComradePashtun]

Indian PM Dr Manmohan Singh given ceremonial reception - Kabul

BWWWOOOAAAA!

Welcome Mr Singh!

[ComradePashtun]

India is probabaly looked as the FIRST friend above any other country in Afghanistan. The rest of you keep the negative BS out of this thread. Afghan-India friendship forever. We like India not for politics but for what it is. Afghans appreciate Indians as incredible people, their rich culture and our shared history, and more so as a role model. If you don't believe me just ask any Afghan.

[ComradePashtun]

borgza,

Many thanks for thread and the many informative posts. By the way I watched that song twice, I like it when Bollywood depicts us. Its awsome, mate. (,")

[ComradePashtun]

I am so anxiously waiting when India finishes building our new parliamant building, apparently its going to be a one glitzy thing.

On my almost every trip I see Indian friends at the Kabul ariport, and as much as they don't mind being approached by a stranger I am always willing to exchange couple of word which then turns in to a little chat. Last time I met a poltical attache of the Indian embassy, much to my surprise that he told what he was while waiting for the Indian ambassy car to collect him. I also once met a Hindustan Time senior editor and writer. Highly decent people.

[faye]

India is probabaly looked as the FIRST friend above any other country in Afghanistan. The rest of you keep the negative BS out of this thread. Afghan-India friendship forever. We like India not for politics but for what it is. Afghans appreciate Indians as incredible people, their rich culture and our shared history, and more so as a role model. If you don't believe me just ask any Afghan.

it just so happens that i love india and indians too, that is why i consider the poor there also.

[ComradePashtun]

^^^So what is your point? You are turning into a little India-basher vulgar person, Faye. Be humble in your opinion and see it from the India government perspective. Some time you have to sacrifice a little or may give away for greater gain, may be that is how it is taken up by the Indian policy-makers. And belive me you, you are no smarter than them. India has by far successful foreign policy than your country Paksitan.

This in true terms is rather smart investment by the Indians. It is due to pay the dividence, from every way you look at it, tangile and in intangible terms. I will let think on the that. Be positive for once now, good luck.

[faye]

and you are turning into a joke. now i am an india basher, yesterday i was a paki lover. do you deny that india is now hand in glove with america? the us will want to use india if they decide to play their games with pakistan or china, no? just like they want to be in afghanistan re iran and pakistan, no?
sure, it would be nice if it is purely from their heart but that doesn't appear to be how it is played these days.
the money stolen by the afghan politicians probably could have built the new parliament.