Click to play videoNew York: US President Barack Obama's announcement of starting the process of withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in July 2011, came just days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called on the United States warning that "premature talk of exit will only embolden the terrorists".
But US National Security Advisor General James Jones reiterated that the US is focused on a timeframe for its mission in Afghanistan.
"When you have a mission like this, it simply cannot be that it's going to continue to go on forever. And the President has decided to focus everyone's attention on a reasonable time frame in which we can see real change," said Jones.
But General Jones also insisted that the US would not leave Afghanistan in a hurry.
"The United States has no intention of leaving Afghanistan in the near future, certainly not in 2011. We are very confident that by the application of over 100,000 US troops and a significant increase in the NATO and non-NATO contributing countries, we will be able to achieve the conditions by which Afghans will be able to take more responsibility for the conduct of their internal affairs," added Jones.
After facing much criticism over the timeline for US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, administration officials are now busy clarifying that the pace and nature of the pullout in July 2011 will depend entirely on prevailing conditions at the time, including the security situation in Afghanistan, the state of the government in Kabul and various provinces, and the ability of Afghan security forces to assume more responsibility.
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