No Terror Attack Can Deter India From Helping Afghanistan: FS

New Delhi, Aug 26, IRNA – India’s foreign secretary returned Sunday from a visit to Afghanistan in a clear message that no terror can impact Indias strong determination to assist development efforts there. Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh traveled to Indias Consulate General in Jalalabad that was recently targeted in a suicide attack. During her visit from August 23 to 25, Singh held talks with her counterpart Ershad Ahmadi and called on President Karzai, First Vice President Marshal Fahim, Second Vice President Karim Khalili and Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasool, the PTI reported quoting official sources as said here Sunday. She was accompanied by the MEA officials including Sanjiv Ranjan, Joint Secretary Development Partnership Administration and Rudrendra Tandon, Joint Secretary (Pakistan,Afghanistan, India), they said, adding a full review was undertaken along with Indias Ambassador Amar Sinha and other officials of Development wing of the Embassy. In her first solo visit abroad, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh travelled to Afganistan from 23 to 25 August conveying a clear message that no terrorist attack can have an impact on Indias strong determination to assist Afghanistan in its reconstruction and development efforts, the sources said. The Foreign Secretary also paid a special visit to the Consulte General of India, Jalalabad, that was recently targeted by a suicide bomb attack which was successfully thwarted by Afgan security forces. She called on Governor of Nangarhar Province Sherzoi in Jalalaba, they said. Earlier this month, suicide bombers detonated explosives-packed vehicle near the Indian Consulate in Afghanistan's Jalalabad city, bordering Pakistan, killing at least eight children and wounding 21 others./end