(Bloomberg) – India seeks to expand its economic presence in Afghanistan as the international coalition fighting the Taliban withdraws combat forces through 2014, India’s ambassador to the U.S. said yesterday.

“Our intention is to invest and endure, and that’s the approach we are taking,” Ambassador Nirupama Rao said at a Bloomberg Government breakfast yesterday in Washington. “We already have committed about $2 billion of investment in Afghanistan and we are prepared to do more.”

India is hosting an investment summit on Afghanistan in New Delhi tomorrow that will draw government bodies and companies from around the world, including 12 companies from the U.S., Rao said. It’s part of a global effort to help develop Afghanistan’s economy and improve its economic and military security, she said.

Read more ⇒