Washington, Oct 11 : In view of the increased violence along the Pak-Afghan border and the general changing situation in Afghanistan, the US strategy on Afghanistan must broaden its scope and include India in it, said Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.

Mullen said the Pak-Afghan boarder region had become a “safe haven for insurgents”. “Things have changed enough to warrant a review of our overall strategy there, and in fact, part of the effort is to try to ensure better coordination on both sides of that border,” The News quoted him as saying.

The strategy review will address better ways to coordinate these efforts while broadening the focus on Afghanistan to include Pakistan as well as India, Mullen said and added that both countries had long historic links to Afghanistan and an important role to play there.

According to the paper, though the idea of giving Indians a bigger role in Afghan strategy or including them in any joint force to control the Pak-Afghan border had not been discussed formally between the US and Pakistani authorities as yet, Pak security officials have always given very cautious response to it even in private conversations.

Admiral Mullen expressed the hope that progress in Iraq will continue, freeing up forces to meet additional requirements in Afghanistan. But he emphasised that the challenges in Afghanistan demand more than military might--a point US Defence Secretary Gates reiterated on Thursday to his NATO counterparts.

“It is not just about boots on the ground.""It is really three pieces. There is the security piece, the development......... and economic piece as well as the political and diplomatic piece, and all of those things have to come together,” the paper quoted Mullen as saying. (ANI)