India will not send troops to Afghanistan but will continue to work on development projects in the war-torn country, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday after talks on defence cooperation with a US delegation where Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and maritime security were also taken up.
Sitharaman discussed several issues regarding strategic partnership with James Mattis, the US Secretary of Defence, and urged him to take up cross-border terrorism whenever he visits the country.
Without naming Pakistan, Mattis said that there will be zero tolerance for terror safe havens and the US will work closely with India to eradicate them.
"The situation in our neighbourhood and the growing menace of cross-border terrorism were discussed in depth. There is growing convergence in the approaches of both our countries on this issue," Sitharaman said at a joint press conference after the talks. This is the first time India made its stand clear on not sending troops to Afghanistan and continuing development work in the country after US President Donald Trump announced a strategy for Afghanistan last month urging New Delhi to be proactive. India's has stuck to its stand on not sending troops to Afghanistan since 2001.
Sitharaman said India will continue boosting infrastructure in the country.
"Today, I had useful discussions with Secretary Mattis on how we could strengthen our cooperation bilaterally as well as with the Government of Afghanistan in pursuit of our common objective of a peaceful, democratic, stable and prosperous Afghanistan," Sitharaman said.
She said India has built dams, hospitals and it will continue providing development assistance to the war-torn country.
"We give them facilities in our hospitals both for those who are wounded on field and for civilians. Those assistances for medical help will continue."
Mattis said his country applauds India's invaluable contribution to Afghanistan and welcomes further efforts to promote its democracy, stability and security.
Enhancing maritime cooperation between the two countries is significant at a time when China has increased its presence in the Indian Ocean Region. Mattis said he looks forward to new naval exercises based on maritime objectives. He also appreciated India's efforts to build pressure on North Korea that has the potential to destabilise the region.
Procurement of defence equipment and US firms setting up manufacturing firms in India in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' policy were also discussed at the talks.
"We agreed that the full implementation of the understanding reached following the announcement by the US last year recognizing India as a Major Defence Partner will provide further energy and momentum to our collaboration on defence technology and manufacturing," Sitharaman said.
Mattis said India and the US are two "strategic partners" and their defence cooperation has steadily expanded in recent years underpinned by a strategic convergence between the two countries based on common objectives and goals in the region.
"This cooperation will benefit both economies by reducing trust issues between our two democracies," he said but did not elaborate on the nature of the issues.
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 "Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with US Secretary of Defence James Mattis")
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