NEW DELHI – The leaders of India and Afghanistan held talks on Thursday in New Delhi. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a joint statement that did not mention Pakistan directly but said they discussed “the common threat faced by both their societies from terrorism.”
They “agreed that the strategic partnership between India and Afghanistan is a positive factor for peace and stability in the region,” the statement said. Analysts say arch-rivals India and Pakistan are locked in a struggle for influence in Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan. Nine Indians died in a Taliban suicide attack on foreigners in the Afghan capital in February last year, while a suicide bomber killed 41 people in an attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in 2008.
India on Thursday “reiterated its long-term commitment to the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan” despite the violence. The government in New Delhi, which accuses Pakistan of sheltering militants behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is believed to give more money to Afghanistan than any other country in the region through aid and other programmes. Karzai was due to travel to Munich on Thursday evening.
