Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai held talks here Thursday on India's continued assistance to Kabul for its reconstruction programme and a proposed pipeline project to transport gas from Central Asia to India.

The pipeline project envisages linking Turkmenistan with India via Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

The two countries are expected to sign memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for cooperation in the sphere of information and broadcasting and civil aviation.

Karzai, who is on his third visit to India in three years, had held talks with External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh on Wednesday, during which he promised to take up with Pakistan the proposed trade corridor for Indian exports to Afghanistan.
 
The Afghan president also urged the Indian government to send more Indian teachers and doctors to upgrade social infrastructure in his war-ravaged country.

Karzai is accompanied by a high-powered delegation, including eight cabinet ministers.

India, which is among the top six contributors to Afghanistan's reconstruction, has committed over $400 million as assistance to Kabul since 2002 and is helping it in areas as diverse as infrastructure, education, healthcare and social welfare.