Envoy wants sister-city relationship between 10 Indian and Afghan cities
Mohammad Abdali, the Afghanistan ambassador to India, who was in Kota on Friday, said that the Afghan embassy has proposed that sister-city relations be developed between 10 Indian and Afghan cities to consolidate the ties between both the countries.
While speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day-long Smart City Summit, being held in Kota, Abdali said, “According to the Afghan embassy’s proposal, there can be sister-city relations between Delhi and Kabul, Mumbai and Kandahar, Ajmer Sharif and Herat, Assam and Helmand and Hyderabad and Jalalabad. We are close to signing an agreement for sister city relations between Delhi and Kabul, which would be the beginning of other such relationships, but the final decision will be taken by the Union Ministry of External affairs in India.”
He said that such a relationship will consolidate tourism, economic, cultural and other aspects between the cities. “We will always prosper if we share our technical expertise, wealth and natural resources,” he said.
Talking about the smart city initiative in India, Abdali said, “The initiative should be exported to other countries and make it a bilateral, trilateral and multilateral initiative.”
“Cities in other countries also best practices they can share with India. Similarly, India’s experience with the smart city project can be shared with countries like Afghanistan,” he said.
When asked about terrorism in Afghanistan, he said that terrorism is a major impediment. “We have seen terrorism unfolding in Afghanistan and other parts of the world. Afghanistan is committed to eliminating terrorism from the world,” said the Afghan ambassador.
The Smart City Summit has been organised by elets in collaboration with the Kota Municipal Corporation, Smart City Project Kota, and the Rajasthan government. Kota district collector Rohit Gupta, mayor Mahesh Vijay, chairman of Urban Improvement Trust, Kota, RK Mehta and others attended the summit on Friday. The area near Mahakal Temple in Ujjain will be redeveloped under the Smart City Project.
The CEO of Ujjain Municipal Corporation, Awadhesh Sharma, said that a comprehensive development plan for Shri Mhakaal Temple, Rudrasagar, and nearby attractions will be implemented. “The city hosts Mahakumbh, Simhasth Mela every 12 years. During the last Simhasth in 2016, around ₹2,600 crore was invested for the development and management of the event,” he said.