Khurshid represents India at prayers for Rabbani

Law minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday represented India at a prayer ceremony in Kabul for former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was assassinated at his home in Kabul last week, and conveyed India's solidarity with the people of Afghanistan.

Law minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday represented India at a prayer ceremony in Kabul for former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was assassinated at his home in Kabul last week, and conveyed India's solidarity with the people of Afghanistan.

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Rabbani, chairman of of High Peace Council and the key Afghan interlocutor in talks with the Taliban, was assassinated last week by a suicide bomber who claimed to carry a peace message from the Taliban.

Khurshid also called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai and discussed the tense security situation in Afghanistan and reviewed the security of over 4,000 Indians who are engaged in a host of reconstruction activities in the violence-torn country.

He also underlined India's unflinching support of the people and the government of India in Afghanistan's quest for peace and and development.

He met Salahuddin Rabbani, son of the former Afghan president, and conveyed condolences at the death of his father. In his meetings, Khurshid expressed solidarity with the people and government of Afghanistan in their hour of grief, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

Rabbani visited India in July to brief the Indian leadership here about the ongoing reconciliation efforts in his country.

Condemning the assassination of Rabbani, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna underlined that the forces of terror and hatred have silenced “another powerful voice of peace.”

Karzai had to cut short his visit to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York to return for Rabbani's funeral on Friday, which was marked by scenes of chaos at the burial site.