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Heart of Asia summit: Over 30 nations to plan fight against terrorism
As many as 40 countries and groupings will participate in the meet aimed at helping war-ravaged Afghanistan in its political and economic transition.
A plan to fight terrorism and measures to boost investments in Afghanistan will be the likely outcome of the Heart of Asia ministerial meeting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will inaugurate on Sunday.
As many as 40 countries and groupings will participate in the meet aimed at helping war-ravaged Afghanistan in its political and economic transition. Finance minister Arun Jaitley will co-chair the meeting in the absence of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
India and Afghanistan rooted for strong measures to counter terrorism – which both believe is aided by Pakistan – at a senior officials’ meeting held on Saturday. Senior officials of the 14 Heart of Asia countries and 17 supporting countries discussed the issue, among others. “The threat of terrorism, terror sanctuaries, funding, drug trafficking and increasing radicalisation figured in the discussions – along with plans for connectivity and means to promote the economic well-being of Afghanistan,” an official said.
The senior officials’ meeting was co-chaired by foreign secretary S Jaishankar and Afghanistan deputy foreign minister Hikmat Khaleel Karzai.
Read | Heart of Asia summit: India, Afghanistan team to isolate Pakistan on terror
