Questions have been raised on the credibility of elections held on September 28 with allegations of fraud and corruption.
India on Monday welcomed the announcement of Afghanistan Presidential election and called all leaders and other stakeholders to work together to further strengthen the democratic polity.
"We welcome the announcement of the preliminary results of the Presidential election of Afghanistan held on 28 September and commend all the leaders and institutions for their hard work to preserve and strengthen democracy in the country," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani is set to return for a second term, as preliminary polling results on Sunday showed him taking narrow margin over his main rival.
Questions have been raised on the credibility of elections held on September 28 with allegations of fraud and corruption.
Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) said Ghani had won 50.64% of the vote while his top challenger Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, who scored 39.52%.
Abdullah's office has said he would contest the election results.
"We would like to make it clear once again to our people, supporters, election commission and our international allies that our team will not accept the result of this fraudulent vote unless our legitimate demands are addressed," the statement read.
On the questions of credibility, Kumar said, "We expect that the complaints would be addressed through the prescribed legal processes so that the final results are declared in a timely manner."
"We hope that the Afghan leaders and other stakeholders will work together to further strengthen the democratic polity and to fight the serious challenges of terrorism facing the country," he said in a statement.
"India remains committed to work with the people and Government of Afghanistan in its fight against terrorism and in its pursuit of socio-economic development," he added.
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