Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Afghanistan on Saturday to inaugurate a $290 million hydroelectric dam with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the latest Indian investment which highlights strengthening ties between the two countries.
The 42 megawatt Salma dam in Herat is the second major Indian project after a parliament complex built under New Delhi’s partnership with Afghanistan. Modi and Ghani jointly pressed the button sending water gushing down the dam as celebrations erupted with balloons released in the colors of the Indian flag.
“I want to give the good news to my people that ‘Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam’ is the prologue to construction of a series of dams that we have undertaken so that our provinces have access to electricity, water, food and work,” Ghani said at the ceremony. “Afghans and Indians dreamt of this project in the 1970s,” Modi said.
“Today the brave Afghan people are sending a message that the forces of destruction, death, denial and domination shall not prevail. It is a historic moment of emotion and pride in the relations between Afghanistan and India.”

Source: Arab News