PM Modi to fly to Afghanistan for Salma Dam’s inaugural

The Dollar Business Bureau

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to fly to Afghanistan on Saturday to hold talks with President Ashraf Ghani and inaugurate the Afghan-India friendship dam, which was formerly known as the Salma dam. Modi, during his five-nation official tour, will also visit Qatar, Switzerland, USA and Mexico.

Around 1,500 Indian and Afghani engineers worked hard in the completion of the project.

The dam, whose worth is over $2 billion is located to the west of Herat near the Iranian border. It is one of the two major projects that India had an agreement inked with Afghanistan.

The meet between the PM and Afghan president will also be an opportunity to discuss the crisis faced by Afghanisthan. The two leaders may discuss ways to enhance cooperation and promote peace in Afghanisthan.

The Salma dam will produce 42 MW of power and will provide irrigation to about 80 hectares of agricultural land.

In an indirect jibe at Pakistan, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson stated that unlike those nations who contribute towards terror and instability in Afghanistan India has always stood by Kabul and will do so in the future. India’s commitment towards Afghanistan will always remain unchanged despite the challenges faced by them, he added.