ID :
50263
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 19:29
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/50263
The shortlink copeid
India favours integrated approach to bring peace to Afghan
Lalit K Jha
Washington, Mar 12 (PTI) India Thursday favoured an
integrated approach to bring peace and stability to
Afghanistan as it shared its assessment and experiences on the
war-torn country with the US.
Wrapping up his four-day visit to the US, Indian
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said there is "a greater
degree of congruence" on how India and the US look at
Afghanistan.
"There is a need of an integrated approach to calm in
the situation, to bring in peace and stability in
Afghanistan," Menon told reporters.
"A considerable part of my time here was spent in
discussing the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan where we
shared the Indian assessment of the situation and our
experience in reconstruction efforts," he said.
"We (India and the US) also shared our ideas of how to
move forward in Afghanistan and how to stabilize the situation
and to bring some level of peace and prosperity to Afghan,"
Menon said.
During his stay here Menon met key Obama
Administration officials involved in its on-going review of
the Afghanistan policy. Besides, meeting Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, Menon also met Richard Holbrooke, Special US
Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Obama Administration considers India as a key regional
player in restoring lasting peace in Afghanistan.
Apart from security, there is also need to take up
developmental and governance issues in Afghanistan, Menon
said.
"If we can do all three of them together, I think we
can create a space in which, I said, the Afghan people
themselves have the room to make the choices to lead a normal
democratic life and to rebuild their society an economy. I
think that really the challenge is for the international
society," the Foreign Secretary said.
Menon also met Bruce Riedel, Co-Chair of the US
Inter-Agency review on US Policy Towards Afghanistan and
Pakistan and National Security Adviser General (Rtd) James
Jones.
"The view seems to be widely held that governance,
development and security must proceed simultaneously in order
to make progress in peace, security and stability," he said.
India, he said, looks forward to participate in series
of upcoming international meetings on this issue, wherein New
Delhi would share its experience of development in
Afghanistan.
India's assistance to Afghanistan so far has been over
USD 1.5 billion. It ranges from community development efforts
at the local level to big projects including road, and
transmission line.
India has the experience of working all across
Afghanistan with the local communities and with the central
government.
"We hope to bring that to the table and see how we can
build on that," he said.
"We have a major effort underway to help rebuild the
economy, society, and to get back to the normal life to the
Afghan people.
"There was considerable interest in the success of our
decentralised – what we call our small development projects
program – which is really community based development work, on
projects."
Washington, Mar 12 (PTI) India Thursday favoured an
integrated approach to bring peace and stability to
Afghanistan as it shared its assessment and experiences on the
war-torn country with the US.
Wrapping up his four-day visit to the US, Indian
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said there is "a greater
degree of congruence" on how India and the US look at
Afghanistan.
"There is a need of an integrated approach to calm in
the situation, to bring in peace and stability in
Afghanistan," Menon told reporters.
"A considerable part of my time here was spent in
discussing the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan where we
shared the Indian assessment of the situation and our
experience in reconstruction efforts," he said.
"We (India and the US) also shared our ideas of how to
move forward in Afghanistan and how to stabilize the situation
and to bring some level of peace and prosperity to Afghan,"
Menon said.
During his stay here Menon met key Obama
Administration officials involved in its on-going review of
the Afghanistan policy. Besides, meeting Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, Menon also met Richard Holbrooke, Special US
Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Obama Administration considers India as a key regional
player in restoring lasting peace in Afghanistan.
Apart from security, there is also need to take up
developmental and governance issues in Afghanistan, Menon
said.
"If we can do all three of them together, I think we
can create a space in which, I said, the Afghan people
themselves have the room to make the choices to lead a normal
democratic life and to rebuild their society an economy. I
think that really the challenge is for the international
society," the Foreign Secretary said.
Menon also met Bruce Riedel, Co-Chair of the US
Inter-Agency review on US Policy Towards Afghanistan and
Pakistan and National Security Adviser General (Rtd) James
Jones.
"The view seems to be widely held that governance,
development and security must proceed simultaneously in order
to make progress in peace, security and stability," he said.
India, he said, looks forward to participate in series
of upcoming international meetings on this issue, wherein New
Delhi would share its experience of development in
Afghanistan.
India's assistance to Afghanistan so far has been over
USD 1.5 billion. It ranges from community development efforts
at the local level to big projects including road, and
transmission line.
India has the experience of working all across
Afghanistan with the local communities and with the central
government.
"We hope to bring that to the table and see how we can
build on that," he said.
"We have a major effort underway to help rebuild the
economy, society, and to get back to the normal life to the
Afghan people.
"There was considerable interest in the success of our
decentralised – what we call our small development projects
program – which is really community based development work, on
projects."