India’s developmental efforts in Afghanistan get US endorsement

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NEW DELHI: The US may not be keen on India playing a role in training the Afghan Army or the Afghan police, but there is support in Washington for Indian developmental efforts in Afghanistan.

In the backdrop of US President Barack Obama’s recent stamp of approval for Indian efforts in Afghanistan, US ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer will travel to Afghanistan in what can best be described as a show of support for India in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama had discussed Afghanistan in their bilateral meeting in Washington. Referring to that meeting, Mr Roemer he was keen to travel to Kabul to show “gratitude” for Indian efforts in Afghanistan. “I will be traveling in the ensuing weeks in this region... it will involve a trip to Kabul. ...the President’s direction is to work and to show our gratitude to the Indian contribution of $1.3 billion in economic, education and infrastructure areas. It’s extremely important to us,’’ he added.

Though this may come as a surprise to New Delhi, this ringing endorsement for India in Afghanistan is a strong message to Islamabad which has been lobbying Washington to put pressure on New Delhi to decrease its presence in Afghanistan. But the US show of support is expected to blunt the Pakistani efforts. The message from the US also comes at a time when India is at a crossroads on its Afghan policy. Washington has publicised its plans and aims of scaling down presence starting next year. With Indian installations and nationals becoming a target of terror elements in Afghanistan, India has been pushed to reassess its options in a fast changing matrix.

Mr Roemer further said that the US is keen to partner India in the region. “We want to look for more opportunities to partner for peace in the region,” he said. However, he did not go into any details.

Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao had said in a briefing that President Obama in his meeting with Mr Singh was very appreciative of India's contribution to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. At the same time Mr Obama had also given an assurance to India that the US would monitor military aid given Pakistan. On the issue, Mr Roemer said, “This is an issue we take very seriously.”

He added: “This is something Congress will take seriously and they will look at it.’’

India’s developmental efforts in Afghanistan get US endorsement-Politics/Nation-News-The Economic Times

 

[Omar1984]

410 MILLION indians are living below the poverty line in india with no access to toilets and here the indian government is spending billions on Afghanistan.


What about the 410 million indians living in utter poverty, manmohan singh.

 

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i know pakistan is frustrated by this news
relax

 

[Creder]

Actually we are not lol Ive read this news ten times on ten different forums, it shows how desperate you guys are for US support. These were just the words of an ambassador and your calling it a "ringing" endorsement ? Did the president of US come and deliver this ringing endorsement ? no infact he booted ur PM from NAM of which India is a founding member how is that for a "ringing" reminder that India's "ringing" investments in Afghanistan, save US a "ringing" bill of infrastructure developments in Afghanistan and for that they are more than happy.

One would think that India would have learnt by now that its strategy in Afghanistan has failed but obviously its going to take another billion dollars to realise that

 

[Kinetic]

The US may not be keen on India playing a role in training the Afghan Army or the Afghan police, but there is support in Washington for Indian developmental efforts in Afghanistan.

The US mindset was exactly opposite earlier. They tried their best to get some Indian forces for Afghanistan. Obama is much closer to Pakistan than Afghanistan and India.

410 MILLION indians are living below the poverty line in india with no access to toilets and here the indian government is spending billions on Afghanistan.


What about the 410 million indians living in utter poverty, manmohan singh.

Now elite members also posting such stories? Do we need dedicated troll?