August 05, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 2, 1429

NEW DELHI, Aug 4: Having blamed Pakistan for last month’s attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in direct and oblique comments recently, the leaders of India and Afghanistan resolved here on Monday to jointly fight any future assault on their friendship.

“As the attack on our embassy in Kabul on July 7 has tragically shown, terrorism has no barriers, and is not bound by any restraints,” Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

“It was an attack on the friendship between India and Afghanistan. We have agreed that we will not allow terrorism to stand in our way. We will fight it unitedly and with full determination.”

Mr Karzai expressed sorrow at the embassy bombing which killed an Indian diplomat and a defence attaché among 45 others. He also conveyed his condolences at the string of bomb blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

“We recognise that the two countries and the world at large have no option but to be united in fighting the menace of terrorism as it affects us and as it affects the international community,” Mr Karzai said.

Mr Singh announced an additional amount of 450 million US dollars over and above the existing 750 million US dollars India has committed to Kabul “to meet the requirements of our ongoing and forthcoming projects.”

India will hand over the Zaranj to Delaram road, which it has built, to the government of Afghanistan. Mr Singh said the road was a symbol of India’s cooperation with Afghanistan, “and a tribute to the precious Indian and Afghan lives that were lost in making this project a reality”.

The prime minister said New Delhi would be happy to host a meeting of the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Bureau, the body which oversees and harmonizes the activities of different countries in the reconstruction process in Afghanistan.

Mr Karzai stressed that fighting terrorism was not merely a political necessity but a moral compulsion in which it stood united with India and the “international community”.

“It is a moral responsibility for us — not a political activity, I would like to underline, it is a moral responsibility for us — as human beings to protect the lives of our women and children, and to prevent the loss of life caused by terrorism by defeating terrorism and by eliminating it completely, and thereby bringing security to our peoples and the world at large.”