As the Obama Administration begins drawdown of American troops from Afghanistan next month,India has informed the US that it would not be involved in the security affairs of the war-torn country,but would continue with its developmental efforts there. This was conveyed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his interaction with the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the National Security Advisor Tom Donilon yesterday when he discussed with them the situation in India's immediate neighbourhood. "We do not want to get involved in the security affairs of Afghanistan," Mukherjee said in response to a question at the media round table giving an insight into his talks with Clinton and Donilon. Mukherjee,who left for India via New York this afternoon after a three-day trip,was leading a high-powered Indian delegation for the second India-US Economic and Financial Partnership. "We discussed the overall situation,shared our perception,our relationship of strategic partnership. We discussed the geopolitical situation,what is happening in our neighborhood,what we could do," he said. "USA is interested that there should be dialogue between India,Afghanistan and Pakistan. India should also play a pro-active role in Afghanistan. We discussed these issues and the problems as we look at," the Finance Minister said.
