India playing a huge role in Afghanistan: US

WASHINGTON (PAN.

 “India is playing a huge role,” the State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, told reporters at a media conference.

“We are pleased with the support that India is giving to strengthen security, stability, prosperity in Afghanistan,” she said.

She also praised India’s support to the Afghan national security forces, including police training.

Referring to the $2 billion Indian financial assistance to Afghanistan, Nuland said the US is also encouraged by the East-West road project that India is sponsoring, which could enhance trade and investments across the region.

 “We have encouraged the police training program. So all of these things are good steps and they help knit the region together in a democratic direction,” she said.

“India has joined us in calling for Afghan-Afghan reconciliation and a process to do that. I’m not aware that anybody has asked India to play a direct role in that,” Nuland said.

She was responding to a question on the statement issued by the Taliban over the weekend in which it praised India saying that it resisted US urge to do more in Afghanistan.

Nuland said overall security has improved greatly in the southern part of the country and the Afghans are in far better security control in much of the south as compared to two years ago.

vp

Visits: 2