NEW DELHI, June 5: Washington’s top general on Monday warned that the Taliban posed a threat to Afghanistan, but said the US was determined to defeat the militants. Gen Peter Pace, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, also urged Pakistan and India to work together to fight the Taliban.
“The Taliban is not a strategic threat that could unseat the government in Afghanistan, but it is definitely a tactical threat which can create problems,” Gen Pace said after talks with Indian military leaders.
The general, however, insisted the militants were suffering heavy combat losses.
“The problem for the Taliban is that they are now a large target and in the past two months they have lost 300 men,” he said.
“Afghanistan’s neighbours need to work together to take out these safe havens,” Gen Pace said and warned: “The United States is committed to success in Afghanistan as well as in Iraq.”
He said Indian commanders briefed him about New Delhi’s apprehensions on Islamabad’s policies on Afghanistan.
“We did discuss our mutual perceptions of the region and on Afghanistan it was brought to my attention that the Taliban has sanctuaries in Pakistan,” Gen Pace said.
“But Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is fighting hard to clear those territories,” the US general said.
India-educated Afghan President Hamid Karzai on several occasions has urged Pakistan to do more to rout the Taliban, saying Islamabad should treat the extremist forces in the same manner it was dealing with the Al Qaeda network.
TIES WITH INDIA: Washington’s highest-ranking military official urged India to strengthen defence ties with the United States to help bring stability to South Asia.
Gen Pace called for closer cooperation between the two countries’ armed forces after talks with Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and heads of India’s military.
“This is a golden opportunity for both India and the United States to partner in a way that will bring peace and stability in this part of the world,” he said.
“We must find ways for the two militaries to interact which will convince our friends that we can work together and tell our potential enemies that we will protect our citizens from harm,” he said.
Gen Pace is scheduled to meet National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan for talks on the situation in occupied Kashmir, Indian officials said.
The officials said the general’s three-day visit to the capital was an attempt to ‘familiarise himself with the Indian military leadership’.
Both the Indian navy and air force are currently considering multi-million dollar deals to buy American military hardware.
Gen Pace is the first chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff to visit India since a July 2003 trip by Gen Richard B. Myers.
He insisted that Washington did not block a now-suspended test of India’s latest nuclear-capable ballistic missile, which has an official range of 4,000 kilometres.
“India is a sovereign nation and it will decide what weapons it will test or not test. Nations in the region have tested various weapons and missile tests do not destabilise countries of the region,” he told reporters after the talks.
Last June, Indian and US defence ministers signed a 10-year accord paving the way for joint weapons production and cooperation on missile defence.
Political ties between the two countries have also improved since they signed a landmark civilian nuclear deal during a visit by US President George Bush to New Delhi in March.
The deal seeks to lift a decades-old ban on transfer of advanced nuclear technology to India, but still has to be approved by the US Congress and the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Gen Pace said the two countries were planning more joint military exercises, after successful ones in recent years. —AFP
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