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Afghan Interior Minister-designate Younous Qanooni, who held talks with the Indian government on the developments in Afghanistan on Friday and Saturday, decided to extend his stay in India by another two days till December 12.
Qanooni, the first Afghan leader to establish political contact with New Delhi after the fall of the Taliban and the announcement of an interim administration met officials from the external affairs ministry and other departments.
He held a series of meetings with various Afghan leaders, residing in India, to brief them about the developing situation in the war-ravaged country and the formation of an interim set-up in Kabul.
The Afghan leader, who on Friday met External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, was slated to leave on December 10 but has now decided to stay on for another two days.
Afghan embassy officials said Qanooni's public engagements on this trip were over and he would be spending the rest of his stay with relatives.
Qanooni, whose brother's family lives with his father in New Delhi, arrived from the government formation talks in Bonn and held wide-ranging discussions with the two ministers on the developments in his country and its reconstruction.
Both Advani and Singh had assured Qanooni of all possible assistance from India for restoration of lasting peace in the war-ravaged nation.
The Afghan leader had lauded India for its timely help to the people in his country at a time when it facing difficult times.
He had also lashed out at Pakistan for supporting terrorists in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir, and said Islamabad's policy of interference in his country has failed with the fall of last stronghold of the Taliban in Kandahar.
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