New York: India has requested the US not to repeat its mistake of Iraq and instead withdraw gradually from Afghanistan till the country is able to stand on its own in order to prevent the Taliban from again becoming powerful, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday.
To a question after his address at the Council of Foreign Relations here, Modi said the US and India “should believe how to work for each other's benefit".
He said when he met US Secretary of State John Kerry, he explained to him at great length that Afghanistan is a big example where the two countries can work together.
“We want that Afghanistan should be stable and march towards development, and the security measures of the US has created stability and Afghanistan has now marched to new results (after presidential elections).
"And I have requested the US that please do not repeat the mistake of Iraq, and it should be slow in withdrawing, and let it (Afghanistan) stand on its own, and only then it can stop the Taliban from entering and raising its head there,” Modi said.
