Karzai to visit India from April 9-15

New Delhi, Apr 4 (UNI) Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai will arrive here on April nine on a significant week-long visit for talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders focusing on development and restoration of democracy in his country.

Sources said Mr Karzai will fly to Hyderabad on April 11 and return the next day.

On April 13, he will go to Shimla on a private visit.

He will return to Delhi on April 15 and leave for Kabul the same day.

During the talks between Mr Karzai and Prime Minister Singh, regional and bilateral issues will figure. The issue of terrorism is also likely to dominate the discussions, the sources said.

Afghanistan accuses Islamabad of fomenting trouble in the country and promoting terrorism across the border. Although Pakistan denies the allegations, some recent incidents have caused bad blood between the two countries.

India is one of the six top donors of aid to Afghanistan and has given about 600 million dollars assistance to the war-torn country for reconstruction activities.

Besides, India is actively involved in various development projects in that country including construction of roads, the Parliament House building in Kabul and other infrastructure that was damaged during the decades-old civil war.

It is also assisting the Afghanistan government in training its Armed Forces, police personnel, diplomats and educationists among others.

The visit, seen as a major step to boost ties between the two countries, comes weeks after US President George Bush made a brief stopover in that country while on his way to India.

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