In India, Karzai says Afghanistan is open for business

2012-11-10 103

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai on a four day visit to India says his country is ready for more Indian investment.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN, HAMID KARZAI, SAYING:

"I am here with a message from Afghanistan. That message is that Afghanistan is ripe and ready for Indian investment. Indeed, Afghanistan today is not only ripe and ready, but does offer opportunities to the Indian businesses for investment."

India is one of the biggest donors in Afghanistan, spending about 2 billion dollars on an assortment of projects.

Prior to the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001, India's arch-rival Pakistan held almost exclusive rights to trade with Afghanistan.

Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst in years, raising concerns that newly minted Afghan security forces may struggle to hold their own against a raging Taliban insurgency.