Afghanistan's former king Mohammed Zahir Shah, who underwent medical treatment last month in New Delhi, held talks with Indian President Abdul Kalam Friday on enhancing co-operation between the two nations, a presidential spokesman told AFP.
The frail 89-year-old ex-monarch, who spent 15 days in a military hospital in New Delhi last month, also took a stroll in the gardens of the British-built palace after the 30 minute meeting with Kalam, spokesman S.M. Khan said.
"Zahir Shah and president Kalam exchanged pleasantries and both stressed the importance of our traditional ties," Khan said, adding the former king described Afghanistan's relations with India as "inspiring."
"The president said the government and the people of India were willing to give all assistance to Afghanistan for its rehabilitation and for its industrial, economic and educational progress," the official said after the private talks.
Both men had underlined the need to educate women in Afghanistan, the spokesman said, adding that Zahir Shah, who was treated for intestinal problems by Indian doctors, told Kalam that he would soon end his trip to India - his second in 40 years.
He would leave with "fond memories", he added.
The former monarch returned to Afghanistan in April 2002 after three decades in exile.
Known as the Father of the Nation, Zahir Shah has played a symbolic but unofficial role in the transition from the Taleban regime to the US-backed administration of President Hamid Karzai.
Zahir Shah, who was ousted in a 1973 coup, still commands enormous popularity especially among urban Afghans, who remember his rule as a rare era of peace and prosperity in a country that has been torn by wars.
The former king, who has lived at Kabul's presidential palace, became a widower shortly after arriving back in his homeland from exile in Rome.