South Asia strategy working far more rapidly , says Trump

New York Jan 17 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has said that his South Asia strategy is "working far more rapidly than anybody would understand" and denying protection for terrorists in Afhganistan.

The policy he announced in August was "providing crucial support for our forces in Afghanistan and denying safe haven for terrorists " Trump told reporters on Tuesday at the White House in Washington where he was meeting Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"Our troops fighting (the) IS and Taliban where we have made tremendous strides " he added.

Trump s South Asia policy gave New Delhi an enhanced role in the region. It focused on Afghanistan and covered India Pakistan and the Central Asian nations and included a warning to Islamabad that it has much to lose by supporting terrorists.

Following up the August policy announcement and other pronouncements warning Islamabad about its support to terrorists operating in Afghanistan the Trump administration froze security aid to Pakistan this month.

Nazarbayev said: "While the American troops (are) in Afghanistan I think it s the mission of the whole world to make sure that Afghanistan is stabilized and it also a mission for us as a neighbouring country to to see that peace prevails in Afghanistan."

On Thursday he is to preside over a high-level meeting of the United Nations Security Council on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

At the time of the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 Kazakhstan was left with the world s fourth largest nuclear arsenal which it voluntarily gave up.

"I think Kazakhstan has the moral right to talk to the nations that are seeking nuclear weapons " Nazarbayev said. "And this is the way we are talking to Iran and this is the way we will be talking to North Korea."

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)

--IANS
al/ahm/