NATO: Others should do more in Afghanistan

MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Other countries can do more to help the anti-Taliban fight in Afghanistan, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says.

Speaking Sunday at an annual security conference in Munich, Germany, Rasmussen called on countries such as China, Russia, India and the republics of central Asia to do more in terms of helping NATO to train Afghan troops, providing equipment and spare parts and battling drug trafficking, the Financial Times reported.

"What could be the harm for countries such as China, India, Pakistan and others to develop closer ties with NATO?" Rasmussen said. "If Afghanistan becomes a safe haven for terrorists they could easily spread through central Asia to Russia. Of course Afghanistan is not an island. There is no solution just within its borders."

The Financial Times said Rasmussen's call came as NATO officials were negotiating with Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and the central Asian republics to establish a rail link to be used by NATO as a supply route to Afghanistan.

It said Diego Ruiz-Palmer, head of planning at NATO's operations division in Brussels, told attendees at an India-NATO meeting in New Delhi the route would be an alternative to current supply lines through Pakistan, which are vulnerable to Taliban attacks.