India on Tuesday ruled out any troop contribution in Afghanistan and said it will continue to provide development assistance to the war-torn country.
This was stated by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after her talks with her US counterpart James Mattis. During the talks, they discussed key bilateral, regional and international issues, including terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
Referring to their discussion on Afghanistan, Sitharaman said they had a useful interaction on how the two countries could strengthen cooperation bilaterally as well as with the Afghan government in pursuit of the common objective of a peaceful, democratic, stable and prosperous Afghanistan.
She said India has built dams, hospitals and it will continue providing development assistance to the war-torn country.
Sitharaman made the remarks while replying to a question during a joint press briefing with Mattis on whether India will contribute troops in Afghanistan.
On his part, Mattis said:
We applaud India’s invaluable contribution to Afghanistan and welcome further efforts to promote its democracy, stability and security.
The Defence Minister said she has also urged Mattis to take up the issue of terrorism whenever he visits Pakistan.
She said both sides recognise the importance of holding those who use terrorism as an instrument of state policy to account and dismantling the infrastructure that supports terrorism.
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