Indian efforts to deepen investment in Afghanistan's reconstruction are the topic of the first session of an Afghan-Indian partnership council.

Afghanistan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul and his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna met in New Delhi – the first step in a strategic partnership agreement the countries signed last October. It was Afghanistan's first such deal with any country.

Krishna says India will help Afghanistan mobilize private capital to fund its reconstruction efforts. He said he will soon hold a meeting of regional investors interested in Afghanistan.

Afghan foreign minister Rassoul said India is already helping his country's forces prepare themselves to prevent a resurgence of the Taliban after the U.S.-led coalition leaves the country. He said the two countries are discussing training and equipping security forces.

India donates billions of dollars to humanitarian causes such as hospitals and education in Afghanistan. Reconstruction efforts have taken on a greater note of urgency with the planned completion of the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan in 2014.