US President Donald Trump has expressed his discontentment with India’s limited role in the Afghan peace process, calling for the country, along with regional players such as Russia and Pakistan to play a more active role in bringing stability to the war-torn nation, reports The Economic Times.
"Why is not Russia there (in Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban)? Why isn't India there? Why isn't Pakistan there? Why are we (US) there? We are 6,000 miles away. But I don't mind. We want to help our people. We want to help other nations," Trump said to journalists at a Cabinet meeting.
Although Trump noted India’s efforts through development aid to improve the situation in Afghanistan, he lambasted regional powers for not being active enough in the country, asserting that the United States was being taken advantage of by them.
He highlighted how the war was costing billions of dollars to the US, and how countries claimed to be helping to ensure peace, even when their contribution had been merely 100-200 soldiers.
The president disparaged these countries for their minimal support and talked about how the US was anyways subsidising them with billions in military aid.
Trump ridiculed one particular claim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi about India’s contribution in Afghanistan, stating, "I could give you an example where I get along very well with India and Prime Minister Modi. But he is constantly telling me, he built a library in Afghanistan. Library! That's like five hours of what we spend (in Afghanistan).”
He also mentioned Russia’s historical role in the Afghan conflict, recalling how its predecessor the Soviet Union had collapsed after going bankrupt fighting the war.