Sushma Swaraj discussed peace, reconciliation process with Afghanistan: Ministry of External Affairs

 Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on 20 September said that Sushma Swaraj discussed peace and reconciliation process with Afghanistan.

The MEA spokesperson further said that Swaraj also had a discussion on the new development partnership with the country.

"With Afghanistan there were two different themes of discussions-one was on the recently agreed new development partnership, this was agreed during the visit of the Afghan Foreign Minister to India earlier this month. And the other aspect was on the peace and reconciliation process," Raveesh Kumar said.

Both the countries also agreed to implement 116 high impact community development projects in 31 provinces of Afghanistan, the MEA spokesperson said.

"As per the priorities and the request of the government and the people of Afghanistan both sides agreed to take up 116 high impact community development projects to be implement in 31 provinces of Afghanistan. Over and above these high impact projects, India has offered assistance for six new projects under granting aid assistance from India," he added.

Earlier on 20 September, EAM Swaraj held bilateral talks with Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in New York.

The talks comes after US President Donald Trump last month urged India to play a bigger role in Afghanistan while announcing his new Afghanistan policy.

The MEA spokesperson further informed that on the bilateral side EAM called on Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Moldova and her counter parts from Brazil , Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and San Marino.

On the multilateral side EAM attended G4 foreign ministerial meeting, SCO foreign ministers meeting and will participate CICA foreign ministers meeting, he added.

He further said that for the bilateral meetings the first main focus was on bilateral relations especially in economic and commercial area. The second was on the meeting of dialogue mechanisms at the earliest and third was EAM's pitch for foreign direct investment under Make-in-India and other initiatives.

"With San Marino the food processing sector and packaging industry were identified as two possible sectors for cooperation. With Saudi Arabia a need was felt to diversify the trade, same was the case with Brazil and Indonesia," he added.

He further said that on the multilateral side, at the G4 ministerial meeting, there was a commitment to work in the inter-governmental negotiation process.

Raveesh Kumar further said that at the SCO ministerial meeting, EAM termed SCO as one of the main pillars of peace and security in the region.

The MEA spokesperson further said that, EAM Swaraj condemned terrorism and asked for strengthening cooperation between SCO frame wood. 

-ANI