Rice to travel to India, Kazakhstan

THE STANS

Azerbaijan to double troops in Afghanistan
Azerbaijani lawmakers approved plans Thursday to nearly double the former Soviet state's number of troops serving with NATO-led forces in Afghanistan. Parliament voted 95-1, with one abstention, to support the increase to 90 troops from the previous 46 in a motion that came as US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte visited the Caucasus nation. NATO leads the 50,000-strong International Security and Assistance Force fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Azerbaijani soldiers have been deployed mainly in western Afghanistan, where they provide security for reconstruction efforts under Turkish command. Energy-rich Azerbaijan, a predominantly Muslim country wedged between Russia and Iran, has contributed small numbers of forces to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo as President Ilham Aliyev seeks closer ties with the West.

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Oct 2, 2008
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to India and Kazakhstan from Friday, including for talks in New Delhi about the landmark US-India civilian nuclear agreement passed by Congress, the State Department said Thursday.

Rice "will travel to India and Kazakhstan on October 3rd through the 5th," department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

In India, she will meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, opposition leader L. K. Advani and other Indian leaders including on the nuclear agreement passed by the US Senate late Wednesday.

The passage removed the final legislative hurdle for resumption of civilian nuclear trade between the two countries after three decades.

McCormack could not say whether Rice would sign any nuclear agreement while in New Delhi amid Indian news reports that she would sign the deal's operating agreement with Mukherjee during the trip.

"They will discuss a wide range of issues, including the US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative, trade, counterterrorism, human rights, religious freedom and education," McCormack said.

In Kazakhstan, Rice will meet with President President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Minister Karim Masimov and other officials on security and energy cooperation and political and economic reforms, he said.

The former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, which has rich oil and gas reserves, is one of the leading states of the strategic Central Asian region.

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THE STANS

NATO does not rule out Afghan talks with Taliban

Washington (AFP) Oct 1, 2008
The general who commands NATO forces in Afghanistan called Wednesday for enlisting tribes to help pacify the country and did not rule out reconciliation with ousted Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

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