Salman Khurshid in Kandahar, backs Karzai amid Afghan stand-off with US

The varsity, a major capacity-building project backed by India, has been set up on the site of the erstwhile headquarters of the Taliban. India has pledged to invest up to US$ 8 million in the project, portions of which are ready while others are being built.

India's development assistance programme for Afghanistan currently stands at US$ 2 billion, making it the leading donor nation among all regional countries.

Khurshid's visit took place amid a rift between Karzai and the US, jeopardising their proposed Bilateral Security Agreement that is vital for the limited presence of American forces in Afghanistan after the drawdown this year.

During his visit to Kandahar, Afghanistan's second largest city, Khurshid also called on Karzai.

In his speech, Khurshid extended India's support to the Afghan government's efforts to establish a genuine "Afghan-owned, Afghan-led and Afghan-controlled reconciliation process".