US, India Agree To Work Jointly To Strengthen Afghan Gov’t

The United States and India have agreed to work together to strengthen the National Unity Government of Afghanistan, US and Indian foreign ministers addressing a joint press conference in New Delhi said on Tuesday.

“We also had detailed discussions on the developments in our region, particularly Afghanistan. We have agreed to work together to strengthen the national unity government in Afghanistan,” Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said.

At the same time, U.S. top official said that his office is in touch with the unity government in Afghanistan to resolve the rifts between the two leaders of the country.

“I have had personal conversations with both President Ghani and Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. Our special envoy, Rick Olsen, and the ambassador, Mike McKinley, are working extremely hard right now with all of the parties, as are others, in encouraging them to resolve the differences that exist. And I think India’s participation, frankly, can only help strengthen those efforts and underscore to the Government of Afghanistan the importance of them being unified, of working through whatever difficulties exist, and of remaining stable in the face of the challenges that they face, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Kerry also said that the United States would launch trilateral talks with India and Afghanistan at next month’s United Nations meetings in New York to discuss Afghanistan’s situation.

“And to reaffirm our mutual roles as essential players on behalf of security and progress in this region, we will restart trilateral talks between the United States, India, and Afghanistan at the United Nations General Assembly next month.Doing so is going to enable us to determine how best to build on the past gains of securing villages, empowering women, educating students, and promoting good governance across Afghanistan. And I want to thank India for the important contribution it has been making to the efforts in Afghanistan,” Kerry added.

In addition, he said a peaceful Afghanistan is in favor of the United States, India and Pakistan and therefore he urged Pakistan to join the countries in the region in the fight against terrorists.

“I have most recently talked to both the prime minister and General Raheel Sharif regarding the need for Pakistan to deprive any group of sanctuary. And Sushma has talked about this danger of sanctuary in any place. It is well known that the Haqqani Network and others have operated out of the western part of the country. Lashkar-e Tayyiba is a threat, as we all know, and one that we have all spoken out against and which has had an impact on India directly,” U.S. Secretary of Stated stated.

U.S. called India as a main supporter of Afghanistan in implementing construction projects in the country. Recently, US-India, the two main supporters of Afghanistan, has increased strategic and commercial cooperation with each other.

Reported by: Fahim Noori