India has no plan to scale down operations in Afghanistan: Rao

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Mar 16 (PTI) Noting that recent attacks on
Indians in Afghanistan is an effort to force New Delhi to get
out of the country, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Tuesday
ruled out scaling down India's operations in Afghanistan.

"We are not scaling down our operations in
Afghanistan, we are taking all necessary security measures to
safeguard Indian lives there," she said in response to a
question at the Widrow Wilson Center.
Terming it a "barbaric attack against Indians engaged
in humanitarian and development work in Afghanistan" she said,
February 26 attack was by those who do not wish any other
future for Afghanistan except one that suits their sinister
ambitions.
"International community should understand that such
attempts, if unchecked, would only embolden the same forces
that held sway in Afghanistan in the 1990s and caused the
tragedy of 9/11," she said.
Arguing that there could not be a distinction between
a good Taliban and a bad Taliban, she said that would be
disastrous for Afghanistan.
She said there was "no quick solution" to the Af-Pak
situation and "it was important for international community,
in its own interest, to stay the present course for as long as
it was necessary." PTI LKJ
KAB


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