India-Afghan Innovation Partnership Fair opened in Kabul

The first ever India-Afghanistan Innovation Partnership Fair opened in Kabul, Afghanistan on 3 December 2013.  India's Ambassador to Afghanistan, Amar Sinha, has inaugurated the India-Afghanistan Innovation Partnership Fair.

The two day fair has been jointly organized by the Indian Embassy in Kabul in collaboration with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Kabul Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of commerce and Industries (FICCI). Nearly 20 Indian and 25 Afghan participants are showcasing their innovations in the fair.

India - Afghanistan Relations

India and Afghanistan have a strong relationship based on historical and cultural links. India has played a significant role in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan.

Recently,  Strategic Partnership Agreement, signed between Afghanistan and India during Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to India in October 2011, which reinforced the strong, vibrant and multi-faceted relations between the two countries and at the same time formalized a framework for cooperation in various areas between the two countries: political & security cooperation; trade & economic cooperation; capacity development and education; and social, cultural, civil society & people-to-people relations.
 
This agreement is a strong signal of India’s abiding commitment to peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan during this critical period of security and governance transition.

The commitment is also reflected in India’s extensive developmental assistance programme, which now stands at around US 2 billion Dollars, making India the 5th largest bilateral donor in Afghanistan after the US, UK, Japan and Germany.