Ahead of Afghan conference, India shares 'concerns'

Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna “shared concerns” with his British counterpart and Europe’s foreign policy chief on Wednesday ahead of a major international conference aimed at resolving the crisis in Afghanistan.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the discussions took in the “comprehensive range of our shared concerns” and the “full range of our bilateral shared agenda.”

The discussions, he said, were being held in the backdrop of “the remarkable advertisement for the contribution of the British Indian community to Britain and for the relationship between the UK and India yesterday at the 60th anniversary of the Indian Constitution.”

Mr. Krishna followed up with a separate meeting with Baroness Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy and security head.

Afghan conference

The meetings came ahead of a major Afghanistan conference in London Thursday, to be attended by 70 leaders, including foreign ministers from 43 countries involved in NATO’s International Stability Assistance Force (ISAF), Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours and major regional players.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are expected to address the opening session of the one-day conference that could see attempts to persuade Indian to take on a high-profile role in Afghanistan.

A leaked early draft of the conference communiqués the Afghani government and the international community will carry out a security handover to Afghans “as rapidly as possible.”

It says process of transition to the “Afghan security primacy” will begin will begin this year with a number of provinces expected to be handed over to Afghan security by early 2011.

While ISAF will move to a supporting role within the provinces, analysts say India could be asked to play a role in the handover process by helping train Afghan police and military.

“India is already involved in some sort of training but Pakistan will oppose a greater, institutional role,” said Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, a leading London-based expert in South Asia.

“There is no doubt that India has a very strong bilateral relationship with Afghanistan. The question is whether India is ready to move from a bilateral to a multilateral relationship with Afghanistan,” said Roy-Chaudhury, Senior Fellow for South Asia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Prickly issue

The leaked draft communiqués mentions the prickly issue of ‘reintegration’ -- diplomatic jargon for attempts to win back, through financial inducements, Taliban militants who currently oppose the government led by Karzai.

But Roy-Chaudhury said New Delhi will want to completely satisfied that “a list of preconditions are met” before agreeing to the terms of reintegration.

“India’s view is that there is no such thing as a good or bad Taliban. It will want to be satisfied that the militants are prepared to give up arms and follow the Afghan Constitution.

“Some members of the Taliban have UN sanctions against them”, he said.

India’s role

Western interest in India’s role has grown in tandem with New Delhi’s rising involvement in Afghanistan’s development, particularly its physical and human infrastructure.

A recent poll conducted for western broadcasters ABC News, BBC and the German ARD by the Afghan Centre for Socio-Economic and Opinion Research showed that ordinary Afghans view India more positively than any other country.

In spite of its low profile role, as many as 29 per cent of Afghans had a “very favourable opinion” of India, compared to only two per cent for Pakistan, seven per cent for Britain, eight per cent for the US, 17 per cent for Germany, and 18 per cent for Iran.

Keywords: External Affairs Minister, S.M. Krishna, crisis, Afghan Conference, concerns, British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband

Source:beta.thehindu.com/

Italy boosts Afghanistan troops by 1,000

Italy has offered 1,000 extra troops for Afghanistan next year, with the US saying it shows the "firm resolve" of NATO partners for its new surge strategy.

Italy's contribution will be spread out throughout the year and bring its troop strength to 3,800, making it one of the largest contingents in NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

"The United States welcomes Italy's announcement that it will significantly increase its troop contributions in Afghanistan," said National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer.

"Italy's new commitment demonstrates the firm resolve of NATO allies and ISAF partners to succeed in our shared Afghan mission."

US President Barack Obama has consulted with Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President Giorgio Napolitano as well as other NATO and ISAF leaders over the past several months, "and we look forward to continuing this close co-operation," Hammer said.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton predicted before heading to Brussels for a meeting of the western alliance that NATO allies would make a number of announcements over the coming days on extra troops.

"The response (from allies) has been positive. We feel good about this," Clinton said.

More than 20 of the 43 nations involved in ISAF have signalled they would increase their contribution to the force, following Obama's announcement on Tuesday that he would surge 30,000 troops into Afghanistan within six months.

The president also called on US allies to do more in the eight-year war, saying they too were threatened by terror networks emanating from Afghanistan.

Albania has offered 85 more soldiers and Poland suggested it could send 600 more.

Germany extended for one year the mandate of its 4,300-strong contingent, the third largest in Afghanistan after the United States and Britain, but did not increase its numbers.

Germany and France have both said they will wait until a London conference on Afghanistan on January 28 to decide on further action.

Source: news.smh.com.au/