India says no to troop deployment in Afghanistan

New Delhi: India on Tuesday made it clear to the US that it won’t deploy troops in war-torn Afghanistan even as New Delhi and Washington pledged to eradicate the “scourge” of terrorism and to hold to account those who use it as an instrument of state policy, an apparent reference to Pakistan.
“There shall not be boots from India on the ground (in Afghanistan),” Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a joint media conference after talks with visiting US Defence Secretary James Mattis.
Mattis is one of the first top ranked officials of the Trump administration to visit India amidst expectation from Washington that India could change its stand on a possible military presence in Afghanistan. (IANS)