Kabul
As the latest sign of its growing involvement in Afghanistan, India has pledged to build the $236 million Shahtoot Dam in Kabul to provide safe drinking water to 2.2 million residents in the capital city and boost irrigation facilities across the country.
Plans for the construction of the dam were discussed during a virtual meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, with representatives from both sides signing an agreement at the presidential palace in Kabul.
The dam is part of a series of new development initiatives announced by India in November last year, with New Delhi also expected to spearhead 150 community projects worth $80 million in the war-torn country. Ghani thanked Modi for India’s role in the development of Afghanistan, adding that peace in Afghanistan was necessary to Central Asia. Modi, for his part, assured “all Afghans” that India would stand with them.
“No outside powers will be able to hinder our friendship or affect your growth,” he said. Commending the initiative, Tahir Qadery, Afghan chargé d’affaires in New Delhi, said the signing of the agreement was a “historic day for our strategic partnership.” —AFP
