EAM to visit Afghanistan on Jan 23-24

New Delhi, Jan 22 (UNI) External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will leave here for Afghanistan tomorrow on a two-day visit for discussions with the Afghan leadership on various bilateral and regional matters and invite President Hamid Karzai to attend the 14th SAARC Summit here on April 3-4.

Afghanistan will formally be admitted to the seven-nation regional grouping as its eighth member at the Summit and ''President Karzai will undertake the obligations,'' official sources said here today.

The External Affairs Minister will call on the President and have discussions on a wide range of bilateral and regional issues.

He will also review the assistance programme given by India for various developmental activities in the war-ravaged country.

India's present commitment to Afghanistan is 650 million dollars, the sources said adding that there was need to increase the assistance amount.

Fight against terrorism will be the other issue during the talks, the sources said.

UNI