By IANS,
New Delhi : Hours after US President Barack Obama announced a troop surge in Afghanistan, US ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer Wednesday described India as “a key global partner” of Washington and underlined that the two countries share the “core goal” of disrupting terrorist networks in the region.
“India is a key, global partner of the United States and we value the positive role India continues to play in the region, including its significant humanitarian contributions to Afghanistan,” Roemer said here.
“Our nations share a common goal — to see a world free of the global terrorism that threatens our people where they worship, live, work, and study. We are committed to working steadfastly together to accomplish this goal,” he said.
The envoy’s statement came a day after Obama rang up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed the situation in Afghanistan on the eve of the formal announcement of a surge of troops in the violence-torn country.
On Tuesday night, Obama announced the deployment of additional 30,000 US troops to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda extremists in Afghanistan by May 2010 and set a July 2011 deadline for an exit of American troops from the violence-torn country.
Underlining a convergence of approach towards dismantling terrorist safe havens in AfPak region, the US envoy said: “Our core goal in Afghanistan and Pakistan — to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat terrorist networks — is an aspiration we share with India.”
“We must unite in the commitment of our civilian resources, and provide the tools for economic development and humanitarian aid to eliminate the extremist violence that is the enemy of peace, faith, democracy, tolerance, fundamental freedoms and human rights,” he said.
“President Obama has announced significant and closely coordinated military and civilian resources for Afghanistan. He has directed us to work together to strengthen the Afghan National Security Forces so that the Afghans can take the lead in reclaiming and governing their own country,” the envoy said.
The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan figured prominently in discussions between Obama and Manmohan Singh in Washington Tuesday and reflected a growing congruence of views between the two countries on tackling terrorist safe havens in these countries. The convergence of approach was reflected in the Nov 24 India-US joint statement.