India says monitoring developments in Afghanistan

New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) India Tuesday said it was monitoring the election developments in Afghanistan.

"We are monitoring the political developments in Kabul pertaining to the elections. Like all of you, we are also aware of the preliminary announcements in this regard," external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

The Afghanistan Election Commission Monday said former finance minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai was leading the preliminary results of June's presidential runoff polls, but his opponent Abdullah Abdullah's team termed the declaration "illegitimate".

Akbaruddin said: "We understand that both candidates have filed their respective complaints under existing electoral provisions. It is now for the Afghan electoral institutions to assess these and then make their final announcements."

"There will always be a winner and loser in an election process.

"But we are confident that the Afghan leadership, cutting across party lines, knows that while winning an election requires simple arithmetic majority, running a country requires inclusiveness and an ability to carry everyone along," he added.