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Kabul: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on his maiden visit to Afghanistan, has increased India's assistance to Afghanistan to $550 million. The visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 29 years, will also promote regional cooperation through trade and people-to-people contact.

In the first joint statement at the highest level ever since the ouster of the Taliban, India today formally endorsed Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai’s vision to restore Afghanistan’s ‘‘historic role’’ as a ‘‘land bridge’’ between Central Asia and the Indian sub-continent.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who flew to Kabul today and will be staying the night, took the view that Karzai’s vision was an important step in promoting regional cooperation through trade and people-to-people contact. He also supported the Afghan President’s interest in establishing closer links with SAARC.

But that Pakistan still does not allow transit between India and Afghanistan is a major impediment in realising this vision. In this context, India is said to have been keen on an official endorsement of a car rally between Delhi and Kabul in the joint statement.

Read full story from The Indian Express