By IRNA
London : A conference of defence and foreign ministers from the eight countries involved in the international coalition in southern Afghanistan opened in Edinburgh Friday with a call for greater burden-sharing in the conflict.
“We are looking to our NATO partners to share the burden, particularly of the more difficult parts of the country,” British Defence Secretary Des Browne said.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Browne said progress has been made in recent years and that is a great credit to the resolve of the Afghan government and the international effort.
“But strategic success and the long-term security of Afghanistan cannot be guaranteed without a concerted push,” he said.
The British defence secretary, who recently returned from a visit to Afghanistan, told BBC Radio Scotland that there are parts of the country where the security challenge is greater and very obviously the southern provinces.
“We have made some significant improvements in it I think over the last 18 months and I would like to see more countries making a contribution to that,” he said.
But Browne explained that the main purpose of the meeting held at the British Army’s Craigiehall complex near Edinburgh was to look at how best the resources in Afghanistan could be used.
“It will concentrate on how we can get best effect from the troops and other resources that we have in the southern region of Afghanistan,” he said.
The meeting is of representatives from the eight countries that have troops, or significant resources, in the south of Afghanistan – Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia and Romania.
But Australia’s defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon was reported to be planning to tell the gathering that his country would send no more troops to Afghanistan until European countries such as Spain and Germany stepped up their commitment.