PM will decide on continuing infra investments in Afghanistan: Gadkari

NEW DELHI : With Afghanistan coming under the control of the Taliban, Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said a final decision on continuing infrastructure investments in the war-torn country will be taken by the Prime Minister along with the External Affairs Minister after considering the prevailing situation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will take a decision on whether India will now invest in infrastructure projects in Afghanistan or not, Gadkari said.

India has invested around USD 3 billion in different welfare and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan.

Last month, the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan ousting the previous elected leadership which was backed by the West.

Gadkari, who is helming the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, also said that while many infrastructure projects in that country have been completed by India, some are yet to be completed.

 “We have built a dam (Salma dam)… we have worked in areas of water resources in Afghanistan,” Gadkari said while responding to a query on whether India will make further investments in the now Taliban-controlled country.

“As a friendly country, we had discussions with Afghanistan government officials for building some roads (also)… good that I did not start construction of roads (in Afghanistan)… the situation there is of concern,” he told PTI in an interview.

On Friday, Modi said the global community should decide “collectively” and “thoughtfully” on recognising the new setup in Afghanistan in view of questions over its acceptability as the change of power was not “inclusive”.