Allies rally around Afghanistan
US and India pledge to stay for long haul at Bonn conference
The West used an Afghanistan meeting on Monday to signal enduring support for Kabul as allied troops go home, but economic turbulence in Europe and crises with Pakistan and Iran could stir doubts about Western resolve.
The goal is to leave behind an Afghan government strong enough to escape the fate of its Soviet-era predecessor, which collapsed in 1992 in a civil war. The country’s allies are preparing increasingly for a scenario in which there is no peace settlement with the Taliban before most foreign combat troops leave in 2014.
“The United States intends to stay the course with our friends in Afghanistan,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the conference. “We will be there with you as you make the hard decisions that are necessary for your future.”
She said the entire region had “much to lose if the country again becomes a source of terrorism and instability.”
Hosts Germany sought to signal Western staying power in the country, a haven for al Qaeda’s leadership in the years before the September 11 attacks, at the gathering of dozens of foreign ministers in the German city of Bonn.
“We send a clear message to the people of Afghanistan: We will not leave you on your own. We will not leave you in the lurch,” said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.
Ten years after a similar conference held to rebuild Afghanistan following the attacks of 2001, Western countries are under pressure to spend money reviving flagging economies at home rather than propping up a government in Kabul widely criticised for being corrupt and ineffective.
Pakistan boycotted the meeting after Nato aircraft killed 24 of its soldiers on the border with Afghanistan in a November 26 attack the alliance called a “tragic” accident.
Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna pledged India would keep up its heavy investment in a country whose mineral wealth and trade routes made it “a land of opportunity”. India was the first country to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan — much to the irritation of Pakistan.
