Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

Joint Statement on the 2nd Strategic Partnership Council Meeting between India and Afghanistan, New Delhi (September 11, 2017)

September 11, 2017

• The 2nd meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council between India and Afghanistan, set up under the aegis of bilateral Strategic Partnership Agreement 2011, was held in New Delhi on 11 September 2017. External Affairs Minister of India, Smt. Sushma Swaraj, and Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan H.E. Salahuddin Rabbani co-chaired the meeting. During his visit, Foreign Minister Rabbani called on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
• The Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister of India emphasised that the two nations enjoyed time-tested and friendly relationship and reiterated India's abiding support for a united, sovereign, democratic, peaceful, stable, prosperous and pluralistic Afghanistan.
• The Strategic Partnership Council discussed a range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest and shared understanding and convergence of views on them. The outcomes of the four Joint Working Groups in the areas of political and security issues; trade, commerce and investment; development cooperation; and human resource development, education and culture were reviewed and assessed positively.

Political & Security Consultations

Trade, Commerce and Investment Cooperation

New Development Partnership

• Shahtoot dam and drinking water project for Kabul that would also facilitate irrigation; ·
• Low cost housing for returning Afghan refugees in Nangarhar Province to promote resettlement; ·
• Road connectivity to Band-e-Amir in Bamyan Province that would promote tourism to the National Park and economic development; ·
• Water supply network for Charikar city in Parwan Province; ·
• Establishment of a Gypsum board manufacturing plant in Kabul to promote value added industry; and ·
• Construction of a polyclinic in Mazar-e-Sharif.

People to People Contacts, Culture, Education, Health, Science and Technology

Regional and Global partnerships

(a) Motor Vehicles Agreement for the Regulation of Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic;

(b) Memorandum of Understanding between the National Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority of Afghanistan, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for mutual cooperation in the field of pharmaceutical products regulation;

(c) The Orbit Frequency Coordination Agreement between India and Afghanistan on South Asia Satellite (SAS);

(d) Letters establishing the New Development Partnership and launching 116 High Impact Community Development Projects.

Next Meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council