KABUL - President Karzai on his visit to India was assured by the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee that New Delhi will equip and train the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) to the greatest possible extent.

President of India emphasized on the fact that New Delhi will help Afghanistan in its reconstruction and development projects.

Meanwhile, Afghan Ministry of Defense said that New Delhi has agreed to support Afghanistan in equipping its security forces. It will also provide training to the Afghan military forces.

Presently, Afghanistan is concentrating more than ever before on equipping and training its military forces in order to fight the increasing attacks on the country by various insurgent groups.

President Karzai said, "Indo-Afghan relation today stands on a solid cemented ground. Our relations have become stronger than before."

The strategic agreement between Afghanistan and India will help Afghanistan to train and equip its military forces.

President of India Pranab Mukherjee said, "India is proud to partner with the Government and people of Afghanistan in their efforts towards reconstruction and development of Afghanistan. And, India is ready to tender as much help possible to train the Afghan military forces."

India in the past as well has provided military assistance to Afghanistan.

General Zaher Azimi Spokesperson of Ministry of Defense said, "India in the past has provided military assistance to Afghan military forces by providing equipments, mining technology and military vehicles."

Post 2014, NATO mission will change from a combat role into consultancy and training roles.

In the meantime, training of the Afghan military forces in India is considered as an important step in making the forces professional. But whether the training provided by India will be in line with the NATO training missions is a big question. The Spokesperson of Defense said, "For many years Afghan military training has been going on and there is a fantastic coordination between NATO, Afghanistan and India."

Kabul is trying to strengthen its relations with New Delhi at a time when Afghanistan and Pakistan relations have taken a downturn and experiencing severe turbulences.

MP, Mohammad Abdu said, "Pakistan should not oppose or get upset while Afghanistan is trying to strengthen its relations with another country and start supporting terrorism."(Tolo News)