PM Modi addressed an Indian workers' camp in Doha in Qatar, after visiting Herat to inaugurating Afghan-India friendship dam.
Highlights
- Dam located in strategically important Herat province neighbouring Iran
- It was built under India's development partnership with Afghanistan
- PM will also visit Qatar, Switzerland, US and Mexico over the next week
PM Modi today arrived in Qatar after inaugurating the Afghan-India friendship dam in Herat, India's biggest infrastructure project in the country. In Doha, the Prime Minister addressed an Indian workers' camp where he praised them on their way of life and said their hard work has earned India a good name globally. In Qatar till tomorrow, PM is scheduled to visit Switzerland next, followed by the US and Mexico as part of his 5-nation tour.
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In Qatar, PM Modi is being hosted by Prime Minister Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani. The two are scheduled to discuss a range of bilateral issues and sign agreements on trade and discuss partnership opportunities in the energy sector.
PM Modi, on his second visit to Afghanistan in six months, inaugurated the Afghan-India Friendship Dam, earlier known as Salma Dam, its second major project in the country after a new parliament complex under New Delhi's development partnership with Afghanistan.
"This dam is not built by bricks and mortar but friendship and valour of Indians and Afghans. Our friendship does not have a sunset clause, our relationship is timeless," PM Modi said after inaugurating it along with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
PM Modi visited the Indian consulate in Herat that had come under a terror attack in May 2014. He was also awarded Afghanistan's highest civilian honour - the Amir Amanullah Khan Award.
India has poured more than $1 billion into Afghanistan reconstruction projects and humanitarian aid, making it one of the largest donors to the war-torn country. India, Iran and Afghanistan had last month signed a trilateral agreement in Tehran to develop the Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman as a trade and transit corridor.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has nurtured closer ties with India in the past year as relations with Pakistan have deteriorated in the face of continued insurgent attacks and border tensions.
Originally constructed in 1976 on the Hari river basin, the Salma Dam suffered extensive damage during the Afghan civil war. It was built at a cost of approximately Rs. 1,700 crore by 1,500 Indian and Afghan engineers, technocrats and other professionals. At more than 100 metres (330 feet) high and 540 metres (1,770 feet) wide, the dam is designed to generate 42 megawatts of power and help irrigate 75,000 hectares of land.
From Qatar, he will leave for a two-day visit to Switzerland on Sunday where he is likely to seek support for India's membership to the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group or NSG. He is also likely to raise the issue of black money stashed by Indians in Swiss banks.
From Switzerland, the Prime Minister will travel to Washington on June 6 where he will address a joint session of the US Congress and hold talks with President Barack Obama. He will also meet business leaders and address the US-India Business Council.
The Prime Minister will then head to Mexico on June 8. He will have extensive talks with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on key bilateral issues including India's membership bid at the NSG. The Prime Minister will leave for India on the evening of June 8.
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