10-12-2008, 02:19 AM
<b>Mullen for making India part of Afghan security review</b>
WASHINGTON : Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has said that in view of the changing situation in Afghanistan, particularly increased violence along the Pak-Afghan border, there was a need of full review of the US strategy on Afghanistan to broaden its scope to include India in it.
In an interview with an American TV, Admiral Mullen said the Pak-Afghan boarder region has become a safe haven for insurgents "Things have changed enough to warrant a review of our overall strategy there, and in fact, part of the effort is to try to ensure better coordination on both sides of that border," the admiral said.
The strategy review will address better ways to coordinate these efforts, he said, while broadening the focus on Afghanistan to include Pakistan as well as India. Mullen noted that both countries have long historic links to Afghanistan and an important role to play there.
Though the idea of giving Indians a bigger role in Afghan strategy or including them in any joint force to control the Pak-Afghan border has not been discussed formally between US and Pakistani authorities as yet, Pak security officials have always given very cautious response to it even in private conversations. <b>And it was very unlikely that any foreign troops will ever be allowed to put their boats on Pakistani soil,</b> a diplomat told this correspondent on condition of anonymity.
Admiral Mullen expressed the hope that progress in Iraq will continue, freeing up forces to meet additional requirements in Afghanistan. But he emphasised that the challenges in Afghanistan demand more than military might--a point US Defence Secretary Gates reiterated on Thursday to his Nato counterparts.
Admiral Mullen said : "It is not just about boots on the ground.""It is really three pieces. There is the security piece, the development... (and) economic piece as well as the political and diplomatic piece, and all of those things have to come together."
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