New Delhi, Sep 29 (ANI): Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai was sworn in on Monday as Afghanistan's new president, replacing Hamid Karzai in the country's first democratic transfer of power since the 2001 US-led invasion toppled the Taliban. Ghani succeeds Hamid Karzai after a three-month standoff over disputed election results that fuelled tensions with local leaders and worsened Afghanistan's dire economic outlook. Both Ghani and his poll rival Abdullah Abdullah claimed to have won the fraud-tainted June 14 election, plunging Afghanistan into a crisis that threatened to trigger nationwide unrest. But, under heavy pressure from the US and UN, the two candidates eventually agreed to form a national unity government, and Ghani was declared president after an audit of nearly eight million ballot papers.