By DPA
London : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Thursday called for greater “burden sharing” among NATO members in Afghanistan.
Brown made his appeal after talks Thursday in London with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
“We (Britain) continue to make our contribution…I firmly believe that burden sharing has got to become very much part of our strategy in Afghanistan in the future.”
Brown said forces fighting in southern Afghanistan had the “Taliban on the defensive”.
“We are all determined that Afghanistan should never become a failed state again, and to support the democracy that’s been created in that country.
“The work that has been done in the last six years to build a democracy is an important bulwark against terrorism everywhere in the world,” Brown said.
His call for greater involvement by other NATO members was echoed by Karzai, who said greater burden sharing was necessary if the Afghan government and the international community wanted to “succeed against terror”.
“Is it time to leave Afghanistan? No. Is it time to add more responsibility to the Afghan people? Yes,” said Karzai.
During his talks, Karzai was understood to have expressed his concern about the rising number of civilian casualties in the Afghan conflict.