New Delhi - Leaders and top officials from 18 countries began a crucial meeting on Afghanistan Saturday in New Delhi to discuss the reconstruction and developmental needs of the war-torn country.
The second Regional Economic Cooperation Conference (RECC) on Afghanistan, which was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, opened amid an upsurge in violence across Afghanistan in recent months, largely due to a resurgence of the Taliban militia, which has severely hampered reconstruction efforts.
Among those participating in the two-day meet are Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, Pakistan's Economic Affairs Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Kim Howells.
The UN secretary general's special representative on Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs, and senior officials from the European Union and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) were also attending the meeting.
Officials of multilateral institutions including the UN, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank were also taking part.
"Apart from discussing crucial issues like border management and curbing drug trade, the focus area of the conference is to encourage economic cooperation and development in areas of concern including electricity, trade promotion and investment," an Indian official said.
A business conference would also be held simultaneously with the main meeting, the official said.
The RECC was envisaged to bring together all nations, donors and international organizations involved in the post-war reconstruction of Afghanistan on a single platform.
The first such conference was held in Kabul in December last year and was attended by 11 countries.
India recently voiced its concerns over the escalation of violence in Afghanistan as Kabul sought neighbouring Pakistan's cooperation in combating the Taliban-led insurgency in the country.
Many Taliban fighters fled to the Pakistan and the Afghanistan -Pakistan border regions after US-led forces ousted the Taliban regime in 2001, but Afghanistan officials say the Islamic radicals are still operating from the border regions and routinely carry out attacks in the country.