Decks cleared for joint India, China projects
PM discusses trade, security with Afghanistan President
NEW DELHI: A joint India-china project for training Afghan diplomats will begin next month. The two countries had agreed to train the diplomats during Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s informal summit in China’s Wuhan in April.
The project was discussed at a meeting between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The diplomats will be first trained at New Delhi’s Foreign Service Institute before they travel to Beijing for the next training phase, a person familiar with the issues discussed at the meeting said.
India would discuss further joint cooperation with China in Afghanistan, which could involve socio-economic projects or opening of a school.
Officials said Ghani spoke in detail about the security-situation in Afghanistan at the meeting. He briefed Modi about the terrorist attack in Ghazni in August, increased presence of Islamic State (IS) fighters and the peace process with the Taliban.
Ghani is learnt to have shared Afghan interior ministry’s finding about the involvement of Pakistani nationals in the Ghazni attack. India believes the IS is a major concern, but the biggest threat to Afghanistan’s security comes from the Taliban.
India has been pointing out that most of the IS fighters are those, who have returned from Iraq and Syria.