KABUL, Jan 22: Afghan President Hamid Karzai and India’s foreign minister opened a new road on Thursday that would help link Afghanistan with a port in Iran and challenge Pakistani dominance of trade routes into the landlocked country.

The 220-km road in the southwest Afghan province of Nimroz is the centrepiece of a $1.1 billion Indian reconstruction effort in Afghanistan. It has drawn criticism from Pakistan, worried about New Delhi’s growing influence in the region.

India hopes to be able to deliver goods to Afghanistan through the Iranian port of Chahbahar, and this has triggered fears in Pakistan that it is being encircled.

“This project symbolises India’s strong commitment towards development of Afghanistan,” said Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

“It also symbolises the strong determination of the government and people of these two countries that they will not succumb to the pressure of the forces of terror,” added Mr Mukherjee, who said he had discussed intelligence-sharing with his Afghan counterpart Rangeen Dadfar Spanta.

Eleven Indian workers and 126 Afghan police and soldiers, who were providing security for the road, were killed during its construction, said Mr Mukherjee. “In fact, for the construction of (every) 1.5km of road, one human life was sacrificed.”

The road, which cost $150 million and was entirely funded by India, runs from Delaram in Nimroz to Zaranj on the Iranian border, which connects to the Iranian port of Chahbahar. It opens up an alternate route into Afghanistan, which now relies mostly on goods transported overland from ports in Pakistan.-—Reuters