AFGHAN-KRISHNA

Krishna emphasised that adequate capacity of the Afghan
security forces and other Afghan institutions is a sine qua
non for protecting Afghanistan's sovereignty, plurality and
democracy.
He said gains of the past nine years stand to be
"squandered" if this aspect does not receive the attention
that it deserves as the international community ponders its
next steps on Afghanistan.
Krishna said that Afghanistan's stability and development
depended on the stand of its neighbours as well.
"Afghanistan's stability and economic development depends a
lot on its neighbours and the region as a whole."
The recent reports about Afghanistan's great mineral
wealth also opens up possibilities for mining and investment.
But for Afghanistan to realise its full potential, the
country's neighbours need to come together to forge greater
regional cooperation and facilitate trade and transit, he
said.
"Growing economic interdependence will also help in
weaning disaffected youth away from insurgency and militancy
and in creating a zone of co-prosperity in the region,"
Krishna said, urging the Karzai government to take the lead in
this regard.
"My country reiterates its commitment to stability,
development and prosperity of the Afghan people and looks
forward to working together closely with the government of
Afghanistan and the international community in realising these
objectives," he said.
On India's ongoing aid programmes in Afghanistan, the
minister said the "ultimate aim of our assistance is to
strengthen the capacity of the Afghan state and people to
stand on their own feet in the areas of governance and
services for the Afghan people."
The biggest ever conference on Afghanistan has brought
together delegates from 70 nations to chalk out the future of
this country amidst a total lock-down of the Afghan capital.
Backing the move to hand over security responsibility to
the elected Afghan government, Clinton earlier said that the
US planned to accelerate this process. PTI