Hillary Clinton unveils Af-Pak regional stabilisation strategy

Weeks after US announced sending 30,000 new forces to Afghanistan, secretary of state Hillary Clinton today unveiled a long-term, non-military strategy to stabilise Afghanistan and Pakistan, that provides for sending more civilian experts to the region.

Just before a crucial conference on the future of Afghanistan opens in London, the new Clinton strategy involves bringing militants back to mainstream, improving governance and transparency, and rebuilding the farm sector in the war-torn nation.

A key part of the new American strategy also aims at boosting Pakistan's capabilities to tackle Islamist militancy, and to turn Washington's relations with Kabul and Islamabad into a long-haul partnership by supporting democratic elements and stepping up economic reforms.

The new civilian plan complements US military's strategy announced by president Barack Obama, whereby Washington will send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan this year on top of more than 70,000 troops already there to blunt a resurgence by Taliban.

"While our military mission in Afghanistan is not open-ended, we are committed to building lasting partnerships in Afghanistan and Pakistan," Clinton said in a statement timed with the release of the strategy.

The new strategy calls for increasing civilian experts in Afghanistan, much beyond the present 1,000 who would be deployed in the next few weeks.

"We aim to increase civilian staffing in 2010 by more than 30%," the 30-page document said.

The plan also provides sending dozens of US aid and other specialists to Pakistan by the end of the year for oversight of contracts and projects already underway with American assistance.

According to the plan released by the state department, the US has committed sizeable resources for high-impact projects to address the most challenging needs of the Afghans and Pakistanis, energy and water.

The other thrust is to sustain and expand counter insurgency assistance to Pakistan military, police and intelligence operations against militant groups, lead
international humanitarian assistance to re-settle displaced Pakistanis and boost public diplomacy for more people-to-people contact.

These programmes, the chief US diplomat said had been developed in close consultation with the Afghan and Pakistani governments, as well as its international partners.

When combined with US combat operations and efforts to build up Afghan and Pakistani security capacity, these programmes constitute an innovative, whole-of-government strategy to protect America's vital interests in this volatile region of the world, she said.

Observing that the challenges in both countries are immense, she said the Afghan government is under assault from the Taliban, and is struggling to provide security, jobs and basic justice to a society devastated by 30 years of war.

Across the border, the Pakistani people, Clinton said, are victim to regular suicide bombings, despite their military's increasingly determined efforts against extremist elements.

She said, while al-Qaeda's safe-haven in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area is increasingly disrupted, its senior leaders are still planning attacks against our homeland and our Allies.