RUSSIA, INDIA, CHINA SUGGEST COLLECTIVE STRATEGY ON AFGHANISTAN

RIA Novosti
Oct 27, 2009

MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) – Russia, India and China have
proposed to develop a collective strategy to stabilize Afghanistan
and expect a positive answer from the United States, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

"The three countries are able and are ready to work with other
countries to develop a collective strategy," Lavrov said after a
trilateral ministerial meeting held in Bangalore, India.

Lavrov said that the army, police forces and other authorities in
Afghanistan are not yet prepared to solve problems in the country
themselves.

"We expect [US President Barack] Obama’s administration will use the
opportunity of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries as well as other
regional players in order to stimulate groups in Afghanistan to reach
a general understanding of how to establish their destiny," he said.

The foreign minister said Russia has not only supplied transit for
military cargo into Afghanistan, but has also trained personnel
for the country’s police forces and may also look into the issue of
delivering small arms and light weapons for the police.