LONDON, Oct 25: Calling Afghanistan as the frontline state against Taliban, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that the military campaign in that country is vital to the fight against terrorism.
Mr Brown was speaking at a joint press conference at 10 Downing Street along with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan here on Thursday.
He called for the international community to share the burden of the military campaign in Afghanistan.
The prime minister said the Taliban cannot be allowed to be back in control of such an important country.
“The work that has been done in the last six years to build a democracy in Afghanistan is an important bulwark against terrorism everywhere in the world,” he added.
Mr Brown pledged to work with the Afghan government to make sure its people have a stake in the country’s future but did not say how long will it take for the British troops to accomplish this.
President Karzai said his country, had moved forward with new roads, raising of the army and police, a rural development programme, better schools and hospitals and an improved economy.
But problems of narcotics, drug cultivation and the war against terrorism persisted, he added.
Meanwhile, the United States was rebuffed on Wednesday after urging Nato countries with a minimal troop presence in Afghanistan to send more soldiers to ensure the success of the campaign.
According to the Times, the appeal, delivered at a meeting of Nato defence ministers at Noordwijk, in the Netherlands, was rejected by Germany, and other nations were reluctant to boost their numbers, alliance sources said.
Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, and Robert Gates, his American counterpart, said that it was time for some Nato countries to provide more troops. However, Franz Josef Jung, the German Defence Minister, said that the call for more troops was misguided.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Nato Secretary-General, suggested moving national forces around the country on rotation to alleviate the burden on those nations that have had to fight the Taliban.
