Kabul/New Delhi, April 27 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is arriving in India on Monday on a three-day visit after delaying his departure for a few hours following a major Taliban attack in Kunduz province, reports said.
Ghani conferred with NATO’s top commander General John Campbell and Afghan security officials on Monday following the Taliban attack on police and army check posts in the northern Kunduz province.
Kunduz has been the scene of bloody clashes between the Taliban and Afghan security forces over the past three days.
More than 2,000 reinforcement troops have been deployed to the province since Sunday.
Clashes continued on Monday in three areas of Kunduz, Provincial Governor Mohammad Omar Safi said.
Ghani left Kabul late on Monday afternoon for India. This is his first visit to India after he took over office seven months ago.
On Tuesday, the Afghan president will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He will later go to Rajghat to lay a wreath at the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will call on him at the Dwarka Suite at Rashtrapati Bhavan after which he will leave for Hyderabad House to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Both sides will make media statements.
Ghani will later be called on by several union ministers, including of Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Health Minister J.P. Nadda.
Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari will also call on him.
He will later make a special address at the Indian Council of World Affairs.
Ghani will call on President Pranab Mukherjee and attend a special banquet.
On Wednesday, Ghani will hold a joint interaction with business leaders from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (Assocham) before concluding the visit on April 29.
Ghani will also deliver the keynote address at the Indian Council of World Affairs.
He returns home on Wednesday evening.