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Summary
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband hailed Pakistans efforts against Islamic extremism, saying it had become realistic to speak of complementary efforts on both sides of the border.Writing in The New York Review of Books, Miliband called for a recognition that for Pakistan, Afghanistan was close to the core of its national security interests, including its fear that its historic rival India is building influence in the country. Every country needs to accept that, just as there will be no settlement in Afghanistan without Pakistan's involvement, so there will be no settlement in Afghanistan unless India, Russia, Turkey and China are also involved in the search for solutions, he said. Britain's top diplomat said that President Hamid Karzai's government lacks the capacity to govern and needs to take action to rein in corruption that is sorely resented by Afghans. But Miliband said it was not utopian to envision progress -- and an end to Western military involvement -- if Afghanistan reformed its political system and its neighbors committed to respecting its sovereignty. Within two to five years it is realistic to aspire to see the country still on the upward trajectory, still poor but stable, with a just peace, with democracy and inclusive politics taking hold at all levels, he said. Miliband said any lasting solution also needed to include commitments that all nations respected Afghanistan's sovereignty.
