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Karzai in India next month

By IANS,

New Delhi : Against the backdrop of the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai will be visiting here next month to update New Delhi on the ongoing flux in his country and the process of reconciliation with the Taliban.

Karzai will also be delivering the annual Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad annual lecture Nov 11.

He will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discuss a host of issues, including the security situation in his country and the prospects for enhancing developmental partnership with India.

The India-educated Afghan leader is expected to apprise India of the latest developments in the process of seeking a political settlement with the Taliban.

Karzai’s visit comes at a time when a resurgent Taliban has escalated violence across the country, including in Bamiyan, which was widely seen as the most peaceful region of Afghanistan.

Ahead of the visit, India denied reports that suggested some Afghan leaders were seeking political asylum in India.

“We had requested our mission in Kabul to provide us inputs. They have assured us that there is no truth in this,” Syed Akbaruddin, the official spokesperson of the external affairs, told reporters here Thursday to a response on these media reports.

“I can, therefore, deny that there is any beeline for Indian refugee status or Indian visas there in our Mission, nor is there any policy or plan that is being hatched in this regard as has been mentioned in that report,” he said.