Biden calls for joint responsibilities in Afghanistan

MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Saturday called for a "comprehensive strategy" in Afghanistan for which Washington and its allies "all take responsibility" and suggested enhanced cooperation with Pakistan in the fight against Taliban.

Speaking at the 45th Munich Security Conference, Biden said that while the U.S. administration was reviewing its policy in Afghanistan, a comprehensive strategy was needed "for which we all take responsibility, that brings together our civilian and military resources, that prevents a terrorist safe haven, and that helps Afghans develop the capacity to secure their own future."

U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden gives a speech at the 45th Conference on Security Policy in Munich February 7, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

"A deteriorating situation in the region poses a security threat to all of us, not just the United States," said Biden, who is on his first trip abroad since taking office, delivering for the first time the new U.S. administration's foreign and security policies.

While pledging Washington will continue to work to stabilize Afghanistan, he said that no strategy in the country can succeed without cooperation from Pakistan.

"We must strengthen cooperation with Pakistan" to stabilize Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border, where Taliban remnants and supporters are hiding, he said.

Biden said Washington would cut its troops in Iraq and increase forces in Afghanistan, but he stopped short of clearly asking its European NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan.

Obama has been asked to send as many as 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, which would nearly double the U.S. force there now. Obama has made no secret that he wants Germany and other European countries to increase their involvement in the NATO-lead peacekeeping mission, but Germany and France have been reluctant to do so.

Stressing the Obama Administration is determined to "set a new tone" in America's foreign relations, Biden said the United States would do more, and expects more from its partners.

The three-day security conference, which opened Friday in the southern German city, focuses on major global and regional security issues, with participation of a dozen world leaders and officials from over 50 countries.