MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – NATO should develop closer ties with China, India, Pakistan and Russia and become the forum for consultation on global security, the alliance’s head said on Sunday, but a senior Russian politician reacted with skepticism.

The four countries all had interests in stability in Afghanistan and could do more to help develop and assist the country, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

“What would be the harm if countries such as China, India, Pakistan and others were to develop closer ties with NATO? I think, in fact, there would only be a benefit, in terms of trust, confidence and cooperation,” he said.

NATO should become the global forum with other nations on a host of security issues extending from terrorism, cyber attacks, nuclear proliferation, piracy, climate change and competition for natural resources as well as Afghanistan, he said.

MUNICH, Germany, Feb 7 (Reuters) – NATO should develop closer ties with China, India, Pakistan and Russia and become the forum for consultation on global security, the alliance’s head said on Sunday, but a senior Russian politician reacted with scepticism. The four countries all had interests in stability in Afghanistan and could do more to help develop and assist the country, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. "What would be the harm if countries such as China, India, Pakistan and others were to develop closer ties with NATO? I think, in fact, there would only be a benefit, in terms of trust, confidence and cooperation," he said. NATO should become the global forum with other nations on a host of security issues extending from terrorism, cyber attacks, nuclear proliferation, piracy, climate change and competition for natural resources as well as Afghanistan, he said. "NATO can be the place where views, concerns and best practices on security are shared by NATO’s global partners. And where … we might work out how to tackle global challenges together," he told a conference in Munich ahead of discussion of a new NATO Strategic Concept due to be approved in November. Rasmussen said NATO was already working with Pakistan, and other countries stood to gain from a stable Afghanistan. "India has a stake in Afghan stability. China too. And both could help further develop and rebuild Afghanistan. The same goes for Russia," he said. RUSSIAN SCEPTCISM A senior Russian politician reacted sceptically to the proposals, saying NATO first had to think globally, and complained that Russia had not been involved in the process. "I believe the problem of NATO today is that NATO develops in reverse order — it tries to act globally more and more but continues to think locally," said Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Russian Duma’s International Affairs Committee. "As soon as NATO starts to reach beyond its borders this is no longer just an internal matter for NATO," said Kosachev, who was also speaking the annual Munich Security Conference. Moscow still views NATO, its Cold War adversary, with deep suspicion. Ties were severely strained by the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia and by U.S.-backed plans to invite more former Soviet states to join the alliance. Kosachev accused the alliance of provoking the Georgia-Russia conflict by promising Tbilisi eventual membership and of failing to tackle the drugs problem in Afghanistan. He urged NATO to show it was serious by having proper discussions with Russia about Moscow’s security concerns and proposals. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, chair of a group of experts drawing up the Strategic Concept, and Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay backed Rasmussen’s vision of NATO as the preeminent forum for global security discussion."I think we are talking about how we can have some coordinating mechanism for all the various organisations that exist in the world," Albright said, adding that the question was "which organisation can make the biggest difference." "While I am a great admirer of the United Nations, I know what it can and cannot do," she said, noting that it was NATO cooperation that halted the killing in Kosovo in the 1990s. Rasmussen said he did not see the Western military alliance, which groups 26 European nations, Canada and the United States, becoming a competitor to the United Nations. "We are talking here about a group of nations consulting, formally or informally, on security. Nothing more. "In fact, I think it would actually benefit the UN. NATO is operating almost without exception in support of UN resolutions. Allies are all strong and active UN members," he said. (Editing by Dave Graham and Dominic Evans)

MUNICH, Feb 7 (Reuters) – NATO should develop closer ties with China, India, Pakistan and Russia and consult with them on the Afghan conflict and other security issues, the alliance’s head said on Sunday. The four countries all had interests in stability in Afghanistan and could do more to help develop and assist the country, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "What would be the harm if countries such as China, India, Pakistan and others were to develop closer ties with NATO? I think, in fact, there would only be a benefit, in terms of trust, confidence and cooperation," Rasmussen said. The alliance should become a forum for consultation with many other countries on a range of global security issues ranging from terrorism, cyber attacks, nuclear proliferation, piracy, climate change and competition for natural resources as well as Afghanistan, he said. "NATO can be the place where views, concerns and best practices on security are shared by NATO’s global partners. And where, if it makes sense — if we decide that NATO should have a role — we might work out how to tackle global challenges together," he told a conference in Munich ahead of discussion of a new NATO Strategic Concept. The former Danish Prime Minister said NATO, a Western military alliance grouping 26 European nations, Canada and the United States, had already shown itself capable of combining consultation, military planning and actual operations for more than just NATO members. NATO was already assisting counter-piracy and humanitarian operations off Somalia, working with the African Union and carrying out operations in the Balkans and Afghanistan, he said. The NATO leader said he did not see the alliance becoming a competitor to the United Nations. "We are talking here about a group of nations consulting, formally or informally, on security. Nothing more. "In fact, I think it would actually benefit the UN. NATO is operating almost without exception in support of UN resolutions. Allies are all strong and active UN members.

ANKARA/MUNICH (Reuters) – NATO allies plan to reshuffle rather than expand existing troop commitments to Afghanistan, sending more military trainers in place of combat forces to ready the Afghan army and police to take control, senior U.S. and NATO officials said on Saturday.

The decision of some NATO member states to increase the proportion of trainers within existing troop pledges underscores the difficulty NATO and Washington have faced convincing European and other states to make new troop commitments.

A senior U.S. official said before a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Istanbul this week that Defense Secretary Robert Gates would urge allies to provide more than 4,000 trainers and mentors.

Yet NATO officials said France was the only country to make a firm new pledge at the two-day NATO meeting that ended on Friday — offering just 80 instructors.

ANKARA/MUNICH, Feb 6 (Reuters) – NATO allies plan to reshuffle rather than expand existing troop commitments to Afghanistan, sending more military trainers in place of combat forces to ready the Afghan army and police to take control, senior U.S. and NATO officials said on Saturday.The decision of some NATO member states to increase the proportion of trainers within existing troop pledges underscores the difficulty NATO and Washington have faced convincing European and other states to make new troop commitments. A senior U.S. official said before a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Istanbul this week that U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates would urge allies to provide more than 4,000 trainers and mentors. Yet NATO officials said France was the only country to make a firm new pledge at the two-day NATO meeting that ended on Friday — offering just 80 instructors. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen nevertheless said he was confident the gap between what was needed and what was available would be filled, and that a force generation conference on Feb. 23 would concentrate on this. "I have already got positive responses from allies and partners to our requests for more trainers and training teams … more will come from other countries," he told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines at a security conference in Munich. Rasmussen also said it made sense to use existing resources to train the Afghan army and police, "so that we can already this year start the process of handing over responsibility for the security to the Afghans". "It makes sense to use our resources to equip our training mission," he said. "I find it quite natural that we make sure that the composition of our troop contributions to the mission in Afghanistan reflects the strategy," he said. GENERAL AGREEMENT Gates made similar comments when asked by reporters in Ankara if he was concerned about the small commitment from France. He said what was important was the way contributions were shaped. He said that there was general agreement in Istanbul that the more trainers there were in the forces U.S. allies had committed to send to Afghanistan, the better. "If there was one pretty clear theme at the NATO defense ministers meeting in Istanbul, it was: within the framework of the commitments you’ve made, trainers are the most important people we need … It is important the right people go." He said Germany had told its counterparts at the Istanbul meeting that it would significantly increase the proportion of trainers in its existing force in Afghanistan and reinforcements it plans to send. But Gates warned his NATO counterparts their shared objectives would be achieved "only if the coalition continues to muster the resolve". "No one wants to start issuing rosy predictions at this point, and a very tough fight lies in front of us. We are a long way from being done there," he told reporters in Ankara. After Turkey, Gates was to take his call for more trainers to Rome, and then to Paris next week. Nearly 120,000 foreign troops are now in Afghanistan, a number that will grow sharply in the coming months as new U.S. and NATO contingents arrive. President Barack Obama has announced the deployment of 30,000 more U.S. troops and allies have committed almost 10,000 more with the aim of containing a widening Taliban insurgency and creating conditions for Afghan forces to take over. The allies hope the big build of Afghan forces will allow them to start withdrawing some of the extra troops in July 2011. Christine Fair, a professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Peace and Security Studies, said it was important that U.S. allies did more."This is absolutely critical to the transition of security to the Afghans. We absolutely need these people (allies) to step up to the plate and provide mentors and money. It’s a math problem. That being said, I’m not remotely optimistic," she said. (Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom, Ibon Villelabeitia, Selcuk Gokoluk and Ayla Jean Yackley)

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – NATO said on Saturday a new Russian military doctrine identifying NATO expansion as a threat did not reflect the real world and undermined efforts to improve ties between the Western military alliance and Moscow.

Russia was angered by NATO expansion to include former Warsaw Pact states after the collapse of the Soviet Union and was particularly incensed by the alliance’s promise of eventual membership to Georgia and Ukraine, former Soviet republics Moscow still considers part of its sphere of influence.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approved the new military doctrine on Friday.

“I have to say that this new doctrine does not reflect the real world … NATO is not an enemy of Russia,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich.

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – NATO said on Saturday a new Russian military doctrine identifying NATO expansion as a threat did not reflect the real world and undermined efforts to improve ties between the Western military alliance and Moscow.

Russia was angered by NATO expansion to include former Warsaw Pact states after the collapse of the Soviet Union and was particularly incensed by the alliance’s promise of eventual membership to Georgia and Ukraine, former Soviet republics Moscow still considers part of its sphere of influence.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approved the new military doctrine on Friday.

“I have to say that this new doctrine does not reflect the real world … NATO is not an enemy of Russia,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO has almost met its target for extra combat troops in Afghanistan but will press allies this week to meet a shortfall of up to 2,400 people to train Afghan security forces, its secretary-general said on Monday.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen said almost 70 countries had promised to increase or at least maintain their support in Afghanistan following an international conference in London last week.

He said almost 40 of the 44 states contributing to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had offered to send more troops and NATO was now close to the 40,000 additional soldiers it says it needs for the mission.

However, Rasmussen said the alliance was still short of 21 teams to train the Afghan army and more than 100 teams to train the police. If Afghanistan’s security forces are to grow to a target of 300,000 personnel in 2011, even more training teams will be needed, he said.

BRUSSELS, Feb 1 (Reuters) – NATO has almost met its target for extra combat troops in Afghanistan but will press allies this week to meet a shortfall of up to 2,400 people to train Afghan security forces, its secretary-general said on Monday. Anders Fogh Rasmussen said almost 70 countries had promised to increase or at least maintain their support in Afghanistan following an international conference in London last week. He said almost 40 of the 44 states contributing to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had offered to send more troops and NATO was now close to the 40,000 additional soldiers it says it needs for the mission. However, Rasmussen said the alliance was still short of 21 teams to train the Afghan army and more than 100 teams to train the police. If Afghanistan’s security forces are to grow to a target of 300,000 personnel in 2011, even more training teams will be needed, he said. NATO officials say the current shortage amounts to 2,000-2,400 foreign trainers, who are needed to help build Afghan forces so they can take over responsibility for security. ISTANBUL MEETING Rasmussen said he would urge allies to commit more at a NATO defence ministers’ meeting in Istanbul on Thursday and Friday. "Allies and partners have made substantial contributions, but it isn’t yet sufficient … I will continue to push hard on this," he told a news briefing. Rasmussen said one way to make up the shortfall would be for nations to reconfigure existing contributions to ISAF. "But I would not exclude the possibility that we will need additional contributions," he said. "This training mission is of utmost importance to accomplish the strategy we all agree on. The more we invest in this transition now, the sooner the day when the Afghans can take responsibility themselves." More than 110,000 foreign troops are now in Afghanistan. The United States has committed another 30,000 and allies up to 9,000 more, with the aim of containing a widening Taliban insurgency while building up the strength of Afghan forces. NATO has long struggled to find enough trainers, particularly for the police, who are vital for creating the conditions to allow foreign forces to withdraw. The European Union has promised to send 400 police trainers, but fewer than 300 have actually been committed since the launch of the mission in 2007, mostly because of safety concerns. As well as on trainers, Rasmussen will make proposals in Istanbul for more cooperation on tackling improvised explosive devices, the cause of most foreign casualties in Afghanistan. NATO will also urge more cooperation in providing medical facilities and helicopters that the alliance requires.

LONDON (Reuters) – The Afghan government on Thursday invited the Taliban to a peace council as its Western allies worked out plans to try to end the war in Afghanistan.

In an indication of the quickening pace of diplomacy, a U.N. official said members of the Taliban’s leadership council had secretly met the United Nations representative for Afghanistan to discuss the possibility of laying down their arms.

The official, speaking as leaders and ministers from 60 nations convened in London to discuss Afghanistan, told Reuters members of the Taliban’s Quetta Shura had met U.N. Special Representative Kai Eide on January 8 in Dubai.

“They requested a meeting to talk about talks. They want protection, to be able to come out in public. They don’t want to vanish into places like Bagram,” the official said, referring to a detention center at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.