India to train Afghanistan MPs in electoral democracy

India is playing its democracy card to the hilt in Afghanistan as the country braces for the withdrawal of western forces in the midst of a complex political reconciliation process, Jayanth Jacob reports.

India is playing its democracy card to the hilt in Afghanistan as the country braces for the withdrawal of western forces in the midst of a complex political reconciliation process.

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All 102 members of the Afghanistan senate will undergo a short-term training session in parliamentary procedures and practices in the first week of February. This comes immediately after India hosted a parliamentary delegation from Afghanistan this month.

Meanwhile the Afghanistan parliament building, being built with Indian assistance, is slated for completion this year-end.

With a complex endgame unfolding in Afghanistan, India is keen to cash in on the goodwill it has in that country. For India, whatever happens in Afghanistan has a direct national security implication.