New Delhi, April 28 (IANS): Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, now on an official visit here, said on Tuesday that India and Afghanistan share strong, old ties and these can be "guide" to their future relations.

Addressing a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, Ghani said: "India and Afghanistan are bound by a million ties through millennium. Our ambassador was telling me that there are an estimated 13 million people in India who claim decent from Afghanistan and various parts."

"Yesterday (Monday), I had the pleasure of meeting with people who after 200 years of living here still speak Pashto of absolute pure cadence. That is an indication of the ties that we have had, and the past here is guide to the future," Ghani said.

The Afghan president added that other regions "need to overcome their past in order to build the future, but we can build a future based on appreciation of our past".

Ghani is on a three-day official visit to India, which began on Monday.