The United States, India and Afghanistan will hold trilateral discussions to support their development work in the conflict-hit country as the international community prepares for the post-2014 scenario, when US-led NATO forces would end combat operations and hand over security responsibility to Afghan forces. “We agreed to move forward with a formal trilateral consultation among our three nations (India, Afghanistan and the United States),” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a joint media appearance with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna. The two officials spoke at the conclusion of the third round of the US-India Strategic Dialogue. The decision for trilateral dialogue was set out in a joint statement issued after the dialogue co-led by Clinton and Krishna. Underscoring “the importance of sustained international commitment to Afghanistan as it assumes full responsibility for governance, development and security,” the statement said they intend to seek “new opportunities” for consultation to “promote a stable, democratic, united, sovereign and prosperous Afghanistan.
