A senior US official has said that India will play host to a key international conference to discuss investment promotion in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

The ways to improve foreign private sector investment will be discussed at the conference. It will one of the first conferences on Afghanistan since 2001 to he hosted by India, which has already pledged more than $2 billion for development related works in the country.

Interestingly, the announcement regarding the conference came from a key US official on South and Central Asia in the Obama Administration. The Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Mr Robert Blake said, "India also hosts on June 28th a conference to examine ways to boost international private sector investment in Afghanistan."

He also said that the conference will include 50 Afghan firms and this will improve business-to-business interaction between them and international firms from various countries. The conference in New Delhi will offer basis for formation of strategies for economic development of Afghanistan during a Government summit in Tokyo that is scheduled for July 8.

Mr Blake also said that Afghanistan will be a key issue of discussion during the meeting of Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton and the External Affairs Minister, Mr S. M. Krishna, in Washington on June 13.