Afghan President-elect Ashraf Ghani accepts PM Modi's invitation to visit India

The new President-elect of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani recently accepted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to visit the country.

Ashraf Ghani recently won the majority in Afghanistan's presidential poll. The preliminary results were announced on Sunday, nearly three months after Afghans voted in elections that were marred by low turnout and fraud claims.

Modi had invited Ghani after a telephonic conversation to congratulate him on his victory. Ghani has said that he would visit India at "an appropriate time".

"My dear friend and the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, called this afternoon to congratulate me on winning the preliminary results and the Afghan people on the successful presidential elections," Ghani had tweeted.

Ghani also said that the two leaders will discuss a range of regional and international issues during his visit to India.

"My dear friend and the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, called this afternoon to congratulate me on winning the preliminary results and the Afghan people on the successful presidential elections," Ghani tweeted.

According to Ghani, Modi asserted the need for both countries to fight terrorism and extended his support to the Afghan-led peace process in the region.

"He said, India as a friend, neighbour and the world's largest democracy is fully supporting Afghanistan's democratic rule. India supports the Afghan-owned, Afghan-led and controlled peace process. And we are also with Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism. We support and are committed to a democratic, stable and developed Afghanistan," he added.

"Modi said, India is your second home, and offered a formal invitation to visit. We will discuss a range of regional and international issues during this visit. I thank the Prime Minister for the invitation and will travel to India at an appropriate time," Ghani tweeted.

According to the Independent Election Commission, Ghani won 50.64 per cent of the vote in the September 28 poll, while his rival Abdullah Abdullah scored 39.52 per cent.

Over 1.8 million people cast their votes in the elections which were held on September 28.

Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission said on Monday the election might go to a second-round as it begins reviewing thousands of complaints a day after the preliminary result handed incumbent president Ashraf Ghani a narrow victory.

(With inputs from ANI)