KABUL - The trilateral agreement to operationalise the strategically located Chabahar Port will give Afghanistan a “new route to the world” and “a new path to prosperity”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.
Speaking after jointly inaugurating the Indi-Afghanistan friendship dam earlier known as Salma dam with the country’s President Ashraf Ghani, the Indian prime minister said that India's capacity may be limited, but it was committed to redefine Afghanistan’s future.
"India’s investment in the port at Chahbahar in Iran will give Afghanistan a new route to the world and a new path to prosperity… Last month President Ghani joined President Rouhani of Iran and me in the witnessing of the signing of the Chahbahar agreement,” PM Modi said.
“The fruits of our friendship are not confined to Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar, and Heart. It will never be,” he added.
Modi stressed that India was committed to restore hope and redefine war-torn Afghanistan's future and termed the inauguration of the dam built with Indian assistance as “yet another giant step in Afghanistan’s march to progress”.
"We are reviving a region, renewing life, restoring hope and redefining Afghanistan's future. The two nations have come together to honour and celebrate Afghan determination to build a future of prosperity," he said.
"This dam has not been built by bricks and mortar, but by faith of our friendship and valour of Afghans and Indians," he added.
Modi left early Saturday for Afghanistan, the first leg of a five-nation tour that will also take him to Qatar, Switzerland, the US and Mexico. (Monitoring Desk)