India today hailed Afghanistan and said attaining the status of a Test-playing cricketing nation underlined the "indomitable spirit" of its people fighting "forces of death and destruction".
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj praised the spirit of the Afghan people after holding wide-ranging talks with visiting Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani here. During the talks, both sides decided to ramp up defence and security cooperation.
"The fact that Afghanistan attained the status of a Test- playing cricketing nation is testament to the indomitable spirit of the people of Afghanistan to not let the forces of death and destruction prevail," Swaraj said.
The Afghanistan cricket team was recently awarded Test- playing status by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Despite internal instability and a wave of terror attacks across Afghanistan, its national cricket team has been making steady progress ever since it qualified for the World T20 in 2012.
In 2015, the side also played in its first ever 50-over World Cup, which was held in Australia and New Zealand.
Two of its main players, Mohammed Nadi and Rashid Khan, featured in the IPL for the first time this season.
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