madam president the goal in afghanistan was to fight the taliban who offered a safe haven to al-qaeda
afghanistan is no longer a safe haven but the taliban insurgency has not been defeated because it was proven that victory cannot be achieved by military means alone and that over-reliance on military power by killing insurgents was counterproductive
the shift in strategy is for the protection of the population building the afghan security capacity facilitating good governance at central and particularly local level and promoting development
in this context encouragement is needed for an afghan-led reconciliation process for those layers of taliban who got on the wrong side due to special circumstances
the eu action plan addresses all these challenges and the eu can play an important role in non-military areas
however i would have expected much more emphasis on the issue of narcotics you mentioned it minister and tougher words of warning on corruption and bad governance
as for pakistan yes to the action plan
both cases are interconnected and success on either depends on success on both
pakistan should be in a position to adequately fight the influx of insurgents from afghanistan
finally diplomacy is needed to avoid the eternal mistrust between india and pakistan becoming an impediment to overall success
