Afghanistan foreign minister meets PM and External Affairs Minister

New Delhi, July 27 (ANI): Afghanistan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna in the national capital on Monday evening.

Spanta's latest visit holds significance since Afghanistan is due to go to polls.

Spanta arrived on a two-day visit to India at the invitation of the External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna.

Spanta met Krishna after meeting Prime Minister Dr. Singh in the capital.

The Afghan Foreign Minister Spanta is believed to have held discussions about the situation in his home country and avenues to enhance bilateral ties during his meet with S.M.Krishna on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan's claims of India interfering in Balochistan were rubbished by visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta.

He said there was no truth to Islamabad's claims of India fuelling unrest in southwestern Balochistan province or that New Delhi was backing the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

"This is not a new claim by Pakistan but we need to have closer relation against international terrorism in our region. Afghanistan never allowed other countries to take some interference in domestic issue of Pakistan and India has never used Afghan territory against Pakistan. This is only an empty claim," Spanta said in the morning.

Spanta was responding to the tabling of a statement in the Pakistan Senate last week by Rehman Malik, the Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Interior Affairs, suggesting that Islamabad has enough proof that India and Afghanistan are involved in the ongoing unrest in Balochistan.

Spanta arrived in New Delhi to meet External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna for discussions on issues of mutual importance to the two countries. He was also expected to undergo a medical check up.

India and Afghanistan share close ties. New Delhi is involved in several reconstruction projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In January this year, Afghan and India had opened a new road that will help link Afghanistan with a port in Iran and challenges Pakistani dominance of trade routes into the landlocked country.

The 220 kilometres (135 miles) long road in the southwest Afghan province of Nimroz is the centrepiece of a 1.1 billion dollars Indian reconstruction project in Afghanistan.

It has drawn sniping from Pakistan, who is worried about India's growing influence there. New Delhi is also helping Kabul in a number of fields including health and education. (ANI)