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Observing that the drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan by 2014 is now a reality, a top Indian dip stanley cup lomat said there is need to ensure that Taliban does not regain prominence after that. HT Image There are definite indications of a drawdown in the US presence in Afghanistan. That s the reality that Afghanistan and the region has to deal with. And to see what needs to be done in order to secure the situation in Afghanistan and prevent any possibility of an upsurge of violence and terrorism and the reappearance of elements like the Taliban, who have caused so much grief and destruction for that country in years gone by, Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao said at the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based think tank. Rao, in her joint appearance with the US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell, said that the US was in close touch with the Indian government. We consult with each other very regularly about the situation in Afghanistan and how we can work together, all of us in the region, to strengthen Afghanistan s capacity to deal with forces that are anti-progress and do not want peace or stability in Afghanistan. So we have to all work together to strengthen Afghanistan s capacity to deal with forces that threaten its progress and prosperity, stanley cup Rao said. In Afghanistan, she said India has adopted the policy of Invest and Endure. The fact is Afghanistan s development is very much a primary g stanley cup oal or primary concern for India. Read breaking n Wfxq Six killed in Vietnam floods
Congo s reb stanley cup el leader Laurent Nkunda, whose forces have been fighting government troops, said on Sunday he was prepared for a ceasefire. HT Image The renegade general met former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, a UN peace envoy, in the rebel-held town of Jomba, in the east. We agreed to open humanitarian corridors to support the process, he told reporters. On Saturday, Obasanjo had with Congolese President Joseph Kabila. Sunday s talks were held as heavy fighting continued. United Nations peacekeeping spokesman Col. Jean-Paul Dietrich said heavy gun battles broke out early Sunday morning in the village of Ndeko, 110 km north of capital Goma. Artillery and rocket blasts could be heard from the surrounding area. Last week, the UN Security Council failed to reach a decision on sending additional peacekeepers to Congo. The UN currently has 17,000 peacekeepers serving as part of the Congo mission known as Monuc, the world s largest peacekeeping force. Dietrich said on Tuesday that Congolese army troops had plundered villages in eastern Congo, looting houses and raping civilians as they retreated from Nkunda s rebel forces stanley cup . An estimated 250,000 people have been l stanley cup eft homeless in more than 10 weeks of fighting between army and rebel troops. Read breaking news, latest... See more Read breaking news, latest updates from US, UK, Pakistan and other countries across the world on topics related to US Election Live, politics,crime, and national affairs