India, Af working on PM's Kabul visit

India and Afghanistan are exploring possibilities of an early visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kabul, as President Ashraf Ghani’s government in the war-ravaged country is sending out signals of reversing its policies of relying much on Islamabad to buy peace with Taliban and seeking to boost defence and security cooperation with New Delhi.

Modi is likely to inaugurate the new building for the Afghan parliament during his visit to Kabul. The construction of the new building is being funded by the Government of India and is nearing completion, sources in New Delhi told Deccan Herald.

A proposal for an early visit by the prime minister to Kabul is understood to have been discussed during the recent tour of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s National Security Advisor Mohammad Hanif Atmar to New Delhi. Atmar had meetings with Modi’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. He also called on Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.