Afghans capable of nation-building: Joe Biden

Kabul, Jan 12: US vice-president Joe Biden has said Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, that the US army could stay beyond a scheduled 2014 security handover, provided the Afghans ask for it. Biden is on his first visit to Afghanistan as the vice-president of the USA.

Biden also assured Karzai that the US has no intentions to govern the war-ravaged country and his country believes that the people of Afghanistan are very much capable of rebuilding their own nation.

In a press statement, Biden said, "It is not our intention to govern or to nation-build. This is the responsibility of the Afghan people and they are fully capable of it."

He also added, "Hopefully, we will have totally turned over the ability ... to the Afghan security forces to maintain the security of the country, but we are not leaving if you don't want us to leave."

The vice-president believes that the US army has done well to counter militant insurgency, but insisted that to sustain it and make further strides, the Afghanistan army has to take more responsibility.

In the past Biden had criticised Karzai for not doing enough to tackle corruption. And at one time he was even skeptical of Karzai's credibility as a partner.

OneIndia News