Saturday, January 15 2005 12:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) yesterday (Jan 14, 2005) lauded India's efforts in the global war against terrorism and in extending immediate help to neighboring Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bangladesh in the wake of the tsunami tragedy.

New Delhi's cooperation with Nepal to deal with the Maoist insurgency problem and its sustained backing of the peace process between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) was made known by NATO representatives during the NATO-India strategic dialogue in New Delhi.

Member of the visiting delegation and NATO spokesperson James Appathurai said his organisation was working under UN directive closely with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

He brushed aside apprehensions of the organisation being "a threat to the United Nations" and said that the two worked closely with each other. "NATO works at the behest of the UN under its political direction."

Asserting that NATO was striving to encourage dialogue and cooperation not just in Afghanistan but in other areas of conflict as well, Appathurai said that NATO has the expertise in certain areas and make it available to the countries. "Resolving problems and conflicts without violence is a win-win situation after all", he said.

But the concerned nations and their Governments must show an interest in solving the problems, he said while elaborating that NATO could help Hamid Karzai Government of Afghanistan in tackling the major problem of narcotic trafficking.

NATO is expected to take over command of the ISAF in Afghanistan this summer.