India and Afghanistan, both are looking for ways to cooperate in the fight against terrorism including sharing of intelligence, their leaders said on Monday. Visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also pledged to boost economic links between their nations, whose ties have blossomed after the fall of the Taliban regime. "There is a need for pooling our knowledge, our experience, our intelligence-gathering activities in this region to deal effectively with this menace," Singh told a news conference referring to the fight against terrorism. "Afghanistan has every reason to work with India and the rest of the international community and our neighbours to get rid of this menace for the sake of Afghanistan, for sake of the region and for the sake of people all over the world," Karzai said. India on Monday pledged an additional $50 million in aid to Kabul for development and training projects, taking the total Indian assistance promised in the past four years to $650 million, Reuters reported. New Delhi also wants to expand trade with Afghanistan through a transit route via Pakistan and has asked Kabul to push the issue with Islamabad, which has not allowed the movement. "I have not given up hope," Singh said. Karzai said he wanted companies from India, Asia's third largest economy, to invest in his country. "We will be very happy for Indian companies in Afghanistan to produce their goods and to have Afghanistan as a hub or launching pad for those products in Central Asia."
